ARMS: The Rad Return of the Grand Prix
by Ed the Orange Blob
Summary: [PART 2 OUT NOW] The sport of ARMS is back under the rule of champion Max Brass, and now that the ten fighters with the power of extendable arms have been chosen, the competition can finally begin! What will happen at the main event, and what events will lead up to it? Join Andy Shurbak, Kaitlyn Pleat, Minako Sobawata, King Maibe, and plenty more in this new exciting chapter. ARMS.
1. PART 1: The King's Return

**Howdy. When I bought ARMS I noticed it had no story whatsoever. It's a shame, since it has so much potential with it's variety of characters. So I started to ponder what it would be like if there was a story, and how exactly these ten weirdos found themselves in a tournament of extendable arms. As I thought about this, I came up with a unique story, and I am proud of it. I hope you enjoy!**

 **RE-WRITTEN EDIT: DUE TO FIRST DRAFT NOT BEING UP TO STANDARD TO THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS.**

* * *

 _'ARMS is a sport made for those who are unique in their own ways, to show off their gifts in the art of combat'._

The popular slogan lingers in the mind of millions of adoring fans who love the ARMS Grand Prix; The home to the fighters around the world with a special ability given to them: They have no arms, but instead long spring-like limbs that gives them the power to reach farther distances. Whether this occurred from manipulation from extraterrestrial beings, millions of years of human evolution, or just some extraordinary feat of magic, one thing is for certain: They're pretty darn cool.

The stage was set: The newcomer Max Jackson vs the Russian Rambler Steelimir. Max wears a wrestling onesie, revealing his scrawny body. Instead of having arms that looks as if they were just skin and bone, he bares extendable arms, landing him a spot in the ARMS Grand Prix, part of the first round in the long tournament ahead. His opponent, the veteran Steelimir, shadows Max, his arms made of literal steel and wearing nothing but boxer shorts and muscles only fit to a crazed Russian.

The crowd erupts as the bell rings inside Spring Stadium; A well-known arena for the ARMS Grand Prix. Trampolines surrounded the two fighters as they stand facing each other, waiting for someone to throw a punch. The scenario was described by the announcers for the match as a 'David versus Goliath' fight.

"Silly man," A low Russian accent escapes the giant, "I crush you like cockroach under foot!"

Max looks confused, "Uh.. You can't kill a cockroach-"

"YOU HEARD ME COCKROACH BOY!" The Russian yells as he slugs one of his steel fist straight at Max, who takes it head on. The punch sends him flying and landing on his side. As the newcomer jumps back to his feet, another fist comes straight towards him. He begins to dash sideways, dodging the giant boulders as they leave a mark in the wall of the stadium.

"Max dodges out of the way from the stream of punches chasing him down like a pack of piranhas! Look at him go!" An announcer commentates over the match.

"How is he doing that?" Another announcer yelps with a southern accent. Steelimir reels back his arms and prepares for his signature move. He springs out his extendable arms as far as he can and begins to spin, gaining speed as he does.

"The Russian Whirlpool! No way out of this one" The announcer says. Max ducks as the steel fists fly above him at a great speed. The long arms of Steelimir begin to vanish like ceiling fan arms do, the Russian barely dizzy from the spinning. Max carefully watches the fists to time his escape. He then jumps up, dodging the circulating steel rocks for hands and lands on a trampoline beside the middle of the arena.

"HUAH!" He bounces off and flies above Steelimir's whirlpool. Max then shoots out both of his hands and grabs the unsuspecting spinner by the face.

"HEY!" Before Steelimir and get the hands off, He is thrown up in the air by the head. Max launches Steelimir into a trampoline and punches hard mid-air, sending him crashing into the arena floor. The crowd cheers on as Max prepares his next move. Steelimir slowly gets up, anger printed on his face, "DIRTY COCKROACH!" Before Max can dodge, Steelimir pounces forward and swings the steel fist into Max's side, flinging the skinny fighter across the arena. As Max tries to get up, he is greeted with punch after punch. A hit in the abdomen sends Max to the ground, holding his stomach to ease the pain.

"And Max is down ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer states, carefully watching the fight.

"It's over!" The southern announcer declares as Steelimir stomps around the arena, celebrating his soon to come victory.

"Come on, puny cockroach boy. Go ahead and give up now!" Steelimir demands. Max gets up one foot, his other knee still to the ground, his face bruised.

Max smirks, "I will never give up" Out of nowhere, Max lets out a strong roar, sending a burst of light from his body, blinding Steelimir. As the Russian's vision returns, he steps back in shock as he sees Max. The scrawny fighter now has giant muscles to rival his opponents, veins popping out of his neck and head. The stranger part about this transformation however was the fact that he is glowing.

"He has his super!" The announcer stands up from his desk. Steelimir slams his teeth together as he tries to send both of his steel fists at Max, but the glowing warrior jumps above it, dodging. The fists go right through the wall, making them stuck leaving the Russian wide open. Max smacks his fist together and starts to rapidly throw bone-crushing punches Steelimir, each one perfectly imprinting on his face. The crowd cheers as Max's glow and muscles fade away and Steelimir falls over, unconscious.

"That's it! It's over! Max Jackson moves on to the next round" The announcer gets as excited as the crowd.

"That was amazing! This 'Max' guy is going to go far" The southern announcer says. The crowd erupts as the small Max waves on at the newly made fans. A little girl also begins to cheer, but not at the stadium, but rather in a small garage, staring at a small television, covered in dirt. She claps her hands together as she rolls on to her back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Man, I love that fight!" She says, suddenly a loud mechanical noise comes from the corner of the garage. Sitting down in the corner appears to be a giant robot suit crudely spray-painted yellow. The most noticeable feature is that it has spring arms like the fighters on the television. It shakes, making gears shift inside and the headlights in the front turn off and on that were stolen from a car.

"What do you want?" The little girl asks. She appears to be quite young and short as she walks over to the robot as if it is saying something. The robot shakes some more. "So, you don't like ol' Max Brass, huh? Well I guess we can't be friends no more" She says to the robot suit as she smiles and opens the front and begins to fix some gears that have come loose. "You better now ya' crybaby?" Suddenly, one of the spring arms pulls back and shoots straight through the side of the garage, revealing the sunlight through a hole.

"Hey!" The girl stomps her foot down, "You're fixing that!" she sighs and walks over to the small television. She presses a button and a VHS tape spits out from underneath, "Well, I'm fixing that.." she mutters as she puts the tape on a shelf with others and small little figurines made of metal and heads out to fix the wall. The VHS tape reads, 'ARMS GRAND PRIX - 1981'.

* * *

The Yabuki Gym is open right after Northwest Anken College finishes it's classes, making it the best place for college kids to work out. Plus, an amazing pizza place is a quick jog down from the gym, making it perfect for Andy. He enters the sweat-scented jungle gym, hiding himself underneath a grey hoodie. Andy drops the head flap on the hoodie, revealing his crazy hairdo: smooth blue swirly hair as if a big tube of toothpaste splatted on top of him. He begins to stretch, preparing for his daily routine, when he is interrupted by voice calling for help. He turns around to see a short bald man, possibly the owner of the gym, trying to reach a large box on a high shelf he can not reach.

"Hey, you!" The bald man points at Andy, "help me out here, will ya'?"

"Sure dude" Andy replies casually. His hand suddenly springs out from his hoodie sleeve and shoots across the gym and grabs the box for the man. The owner jumps backwards, freaking out about the sudden long arm.

"WHAT ON EARTH?!" The bald man yells in terror.

"What's wrong?" Andy looks confused, wondering why the man is scared to death by his helping hand. Literally.

"What are you, some kind of.. S-Spring Man?" The old man quickly retreats into his office on the other side of the room.

 _He didn't even take the box.. Oh well_ , Andy thinks as he brings the box to him using the extendable arm, "Oooh, new towels. Rad"

As Andy begins his daily routine after inspecting the towels- which smell like fruit, very fancy- A television in the corner of the room is broadcasting a local news channel when the news anchor with slick black hair and a thin moustache begins giving some announcements. ".. And coming up this Saturday, The top billboard singer icon, Ribbon Girl, will have a concert at the Miyamoto Silver Theatre down at Buster Beach as part of her tour. Tickets are on sale now, but I would hurry, they're selling quite fast. Not often do we get this type celebrity treatment in this area. In other news, man with a strange hat has been seen running around New Do.." Andy blocks out the television after the news anchor finishes about the concert.

He has always been fascinated with that Ribbon Girl. Not like he listens to her songs or anything, but that she, too, has the extendable arms. She's the only one he knows of that has the ability besides himself. Obviously it is not just those two that have the power of long reaching arms since they use to hold big ARMS tournaments with many fighters. But that was back in the 80s, and all of those people are retired or dead. The popularity of the sport died down to the point of it not even showing up on television anymore. Soon it disappeared entirely, whether it was from the interest of the people decreasing or the lack of contenders, since having these arms is very rare.

Andy use to have a normal life with normal arms. One morning, back in middle school, he woke up and felt as if his arms have been cut off, as he felt no weight of them. But he was still able to move his hand. His alarm clock that sits on a counter beside his bed goes off, loud and obnoxiously as usual, and he goes to press the snooze button. But, instead of slapping it like usual, his arms suddenly extends farther than he thought and he punched right through his door. He was freaked out of course, but then realized having these arms were 'rad'.

Now nearing the end of college, Andy is kind of seen as an outcast. Even though Ribbon Girl, a famous beloved pop singer, has the very same arms he does, when he uses his ability he gets odd glances and an exorcist. He gets it though, he's a weird dude. But man, it's cool.

* * *

Ribbon Girl is playing with her hair in the back of the tour bus, getting ready to go out and eat with her crew. She sits in front of a mirror humming to herself when someone opens the door to her room, "Miss Pleat?" A raspy high pitched voice yells. A strange skinny man with big glasses and a headset barges in. Ribbon Girl shoots out her arm and slams the door in their face.

"Dave, I told you to not come into my room. I have to make my hair perfect. No one can see it not fixed" Ribbon Girl says. Dave yells from the other side of the door, but it hard to hear through the door. Ribbon Girl shrugs and opens the door, "Yes, Dave?"

"The driver doesn't know how to get to this noodle joint you were talking about. We need directions" Dave sys.

Ribbon Girl looks out the window to see a beach in the far distance. "Well, it is west of the beach were performing at- I know that for sure- So just keep looking. It has a giant ramen bowl on top of it"

"Miss Pleat, may I-"

"You can call me Kaitlyn, Dave" Ribbon Girl says.

".. Miss Pleat, may I ask, why are we going to some small noodle place? Wouldn't you rather go to one of those expensive diners down by the coast?"

"Nah. Those places are boring and smell like old men in tuxedos. The Mintendo Noodle House is just as good as any of those restaurants. Plus, I have a friend I need to see" Ribbon Girl, Kaitlyn, says.

The tour bus finally arrives to the noodle restaurant, which literally has a giant metal ramen bowl on top of it, and parks in several parking spaces. Kaitlyn puts on a big fur coat and sunglasses to hide from paparazzi, but refuses to wear her hat as she spent so much time on her hair. They step inside, and the place is crowded. The Chinese music can barely block out the noise of chatting and laughter coming from the stalls and tables and the cooks in the back banging utensils around making food. To avoid waiting time, Kaitlyn sits at the bar in front of the kitchen alongside two bodyguards who sit on either side of her.

A young waitress walks over to where they're sitting, wearing an apron and a beanie, "Hello, welcome to Mintendo Noodle House," the waitress bows and then pulls out a pen and paper, "Can I start you out with drinks?"

"Say there, pretty lady," Kaitlyn speaks in the most lowest redneck voice she can do, "Why don't you go bow again, I didn't get a good look the first time"

".. Excuse me?" The waitress asks, confused.

"You heard me.. Min Min" Kaitlyn takes off her sunglasses and giggles.

The waitress gasps and jumps back, "KAITLYN?!" 'Min Min' reaches over the bar and tries to hug her, but the bodyguards shove her off.

"Hey, back off!" One says. The waitress does just that.

"Ah, don't worry Ricardo, she's an old friend. She's cool" Ribbon Girl tells Ricardo.

"Oh my gosh, Kaitlyn, I haven't seen you in forever! Well, I mean, I see you on TV a lot, but still. I can't believe you're here-" Min Min suddenly realizes she is at her job, "Oh, sorry, what can I get for you to drink?"

The two begin to chat with one another as Min Min brings her drink to her and then her ramen noodles she ordered. "Yeah, I heard something was going on at the beach earlier, but I didn't know it was you"

"Yeah, I was feeling homesick, so I had to include someplace nearby here. I remember we use to hang out on that beach back in middle school and then come back here and have a sleepover in your room. Is it still the storage room?" Ribbon Girl asks.

"Yep! And I like it. Speaking of school, do you still go to high school?" Min Min asks in return.

"Not anymore. Well, not physically. I do it online so I can continue my tour" Kaitlyn looks around, "Man, this place hasn't changed one bit since I left" Suddenly a yell could be heard behind them. The bodyguards turn around along with Kaitlyn to see a waiter about to fall over, hands full of ramen bowls. Min Min sees what is happening and shoots off her arm across the restaurant and catches the waiter.

"Be more careful, Daichi!" Min Min commands at the waiter- who is her older brother- as she brings her arm back. "Sorry about that, he's clumsy"

Kaitlyn looks at Min Min's arms, "Heh, I remember, those were the reason we became friends"

"Oh yeah, the only two girls to have these arms. That was the reason I went up and talked to you. You were one of the popular girls"

"And you were super shy" Kaitlyn giggles.

"Yeah.. Nothing has changed, huh?" Min Min says, kind of softly. Kaitlyn tilts her head at her friend. A large voice of a old Asian man comes from the kitchen.

"MINAKO! Come help cook this!" Someone yells.

"Yes, father" Min Min replies as she walks back in the kitchen. 'Min Min' was always Kaitlyn's nickname for her friend. Kaitlyn continues eating until Minako comes back.

"You know Min Min, I think you could get some fame yourself if you showed off those arms more often" Kaitlyn tells her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I stood out back when I went to the singing contest back in 9th grade because I had these arms. People are fascinated by them, and you're the only person I know who has them"

"That'd be nice, but I can't be a pop singer"

"I didn't mean that. I meant, like, maybe go off and use those arms to get some attention. I know that 'Grand Prix' whatever doesn't go on anymore since the 90s, but you could do other things" Ribbon Girl states.

".. Then who would help out here?" Minako asks.

Kaitlyn giggles, "You really gonna work here forever Min Min?"

"It's my families tradition. We've had this Noodle House back for a long time, and after my father, we need someone to take care of it. And I surely don't want Daichi to do it" She laughs, but Kaitlyn looks a bit concerned.

"Wait, so you're really not gonna do anything else?"

Minako thinks for a moment, ".. I mean, I would like to I guess, but this restaurants more important. And plus, I have a use for my arms here. I'm way better at cooking and getting people there food than anyone else. Watch" Min Min grabs a plate of food that was given to her from the kitchen and then springs her arm out across the diner to the customer's table. They are startled at first, but then start clapping happily.

Kaitlyn tries to change the subject, "Well, you are coming to my concert, right? I already have an entire plan for the day for us to do. We're gonna play all day at the beach and then you're getting front row seats-"

"I can't come"

Ribbon Girl pauses, ".. What?"

"I have to work on Saturdays. Sorry Kate" Minako says softly.

".. Y-You can't be serious. I planned this part of the tour just so I can hang out with you, and now we can't? Can you at least try?"

"I'll try, but my Dad is strict, you know that" Minako says.

Kaitlyn lets out a hidden frown from inside the fur coat, "Well," She says as she stands up, "I guess we have to go now. We're busy for the rest of the day. Thanks for the food... See you Saturday?"

"Maybe" Minako says, smiling. It turns into a slight frown though. Both say goodbye and Kaitlyn gets back in the tour bus and they drive off.

* * *

Back at the college, Andy is sitting down in his dorm watching television after getting back from eating at the pizza place. His roommate barges in, like usual. "Hey, I have a question for you" The roommate asks. You can tell he works out, even though he's shorter than Andy. Like, a good bit short.

"What?" Andy says, still in his hoodie.

"You want to go to that concert Saturday by the beach? It's gonna be cool" The roommate holds up two tickets.

"Pfft. You into that kind of music man?" Andy laughs.

"Uhh... Nah, nah"

"Then why'd you buy tickets for it?" Andy questions. The roommate looks away, thinking.

"Aight, fine. I bought these so I could ask Amanda to come with"

"And what'd she say" Andy asks.

"... 'Who are you?'" The roommate replies.

Andy smirks, "Good flirting there man. But, if you bought these to try to get a date, then why you askin' me to go?"

The roommate pauses, "Well, I did ask a few chicks, but then I just decided to ask you. I'd thought you might want to see that Ribbon Girl cause.. Ya' know.."

"The arms?"

"Yeah dude" The roommates flinches in case he offended Andy or not.

Andy thinks about it. It would be cool to go to a concert, even though a lot of kids will be there. Two grown college guys would be out of place. But then, he has a point. Ribbon Girl is the only other person he knows who has the arms. Maybe he could try talking to her, having something in common that's so rare to everyone else. "Aight, we'll go"

"Good. Didn't want these to go to waste. They're front row after all"

"What?" Andy's eyes widen, "Why'd you buy front row? That would cost you, like, your entire life's savings"

"One word: Amanda" The roommate finger guns as he walks out of the room, but accidentally bumps into the door in the process.

* * *

There is one place where no one is talking about the concert, and that would be on the other side of the country. In the Master Hampton Cemetery, a old janitor with a dirty beard is cleaning up litter and polishing gravestones in the middle of the night. Amongst the gravestones lies a big well kept mausoleum. But this mausoleum is not for someone who has just died recently, but instead is for a long lost Egyptian Pharaoh: King Maibe.

Now, why is there a Pharaoh in some normal cemetery rather than a museum? Well, to be frank, Maibe is a very unknown Pharaoh. Matter of fact, he's not even considered one. Maibe, back in the time of Egypt, competed in tournaments using his long extendable arms. He fought in places like Al Minya and Al Jizah and eventually made his way up to Cairo, where he declared himself Pharaoh amongst the crowd of people. No one honestly cared about him, just thought he was some loon who fought in tournaments, so technically he was no Pharaoh. But he thought of himself he was, which is what counts I guess.

When he died, they did not give him a proper Pharaoh burial. No pyramid or anything. They simply just stuck him in the ground and continued on with their lives. The only ones who went to see him was his family ad soon their visits stopped as well. Now, a couple generations later, his casket was found by archeologist. To research and find out who this person was, the body was flew to scientists and historians who, upon seeing the arms, knew exactly who it was. And now he lays at rest inside a local cemetery, far from his original home.

The Janitor walks into the mausoleum and begins mopping the floor. He sprays water on a huge casket that lays in the middle of the room on a pedestal, and wipes it off with a worn off rag. As the janitor turns and leaves, the casket begins to glow a dark purple.

Suddenly, it begins to shake, as if something wants out. The lid flies open as a giant wrapped up arm shoots out and lands on the floor of the mausoleum. A gigantic figure steps out of the casket and walks out into the night with their footsteps causing the ground to shake. The janitor turns back around the see a large figure in the shadows that is double his height and length. Two large hands grab the janitor by his shirt collar and ascends him in the air.

"May I help you?" The janitor says casually, unfazed by the circumstances.

"Have you no respect? Speak to me properly"

"Oh, uhh... May I help you, sir?"

"There you go. Now, where am I?"

"You are standing in the middle of the Master Hampton Cemetery. Now who are you exactly? Got a relative here somewhere to visit?"

The large figure steps out of the shadows, revealing a large bulky man with purple skin, wrapped up like a mummy, "I am the greatest Pharaoh to ever live. I am King Maibe!"

"Pharaoh? You mean like that King Tut?"

"You know 'em? That kid owes me money"

"Say, you look like you're a bit early for Halloween" The janitor is still in the air.

"Who is this 'Halloween'? Is he the ruler of this place? I demand to speak to him"

"Well, I can call my boss in a bit, but it is in the middle of the night" The janitor says.

"I see. Now, how do I get back to Egypt from here" Maibe yells.

The janitor ponders for a second, "Well, you can fly there if you want."

"I am not a bird, you fool. I woke up in that box over there and I demand answers!" Maibe points to the casket and the janitor thinks about it.

"Oh, are you a zombie?" The janitor asks.

"No, I'm not Azombie. I am Maibe!" The janitor then notices Maibe's long arms.

"Hey, you have some of those slinky arms like that girl on TV" The janitor says.

"What? Someone else with the gift of the Gods? Who is this Girlonteevee you speak of?" Maibe asks.

"Well, there's this girl who has arms just like that. She's real famous" The janitor is still very much in the air.

"Famous, eh?" Maibe wonders.

"Yeah, personally I don't like that type of electronic trashy music she does, but she sure is talented though" The janitor rambles on.

Maibe has not paid attention to what the janitor has said, "So, it seems someone has challenged my superiority in the combat of arms. I shall reclaim my title as the greatest and strongest ARMS champion like I've always been! Now, where can I find Girlonteevee?"

"Well, she's one of them who tours through the country, so I don't know"

"Ah, I see. Always moving to find new opponents," Maibe grins, "Then I will have to track her down myself" The giant Mummy laughs and puts the janitor on the ground and begins to walk away.

"Bye zombie man!"

"I AM MAIBE"

* * *

 **Well, what will happen at the concert now? How will Kaitlyn and Minako handle their situation? How will King Maibe affect any of this as he continues his hunt? And will Andy's roommate ever score with Amanda? Probably not. But anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this nonsense. I decided to give the characters actual names, so sorry if it's a bit confusing. Please leave a review and any criticism so I can improve on my writing. Thank you for reading!**


	2. The Concert That Changed Everything

**Howdy. I would like to thank you guys with the positive feedback I got from the last chapter, especially since ARMS is so new that I thought no one would read this silly thing. So seeing the amount of people who read it is 'rad'. I hope you enjoy this lengthy chapter, this is where it really begins. we may run into a few more faces.**

* * *

Saturdays are the busiest days of the year for the beach. Everyone seems to go on that day as if it was a holiday. Especially at Buster Beach, a colorful piece of land with not only beautiful and well kept beach, but also a pool place that hosts inflatables most of the time and a small burger shack. But today the beach was full of people, more than it ever has, for this was soon to be the crowd of the Ribbon Girl concert happening later that night.

With having the concert at Buster Beach, it seems that almost everyone had the same idea process: Hang out at the beach all day and then end it off with seeing their favorite singer. It sounds like the perfect date, which is fairly true. Along side the families who've brought their kids, there is plenty of couples enjoying themselves on the shore.

And then you have two college work out junkies 'chilling' sticking out like sore thumbs. Especially since one of them has blue swirly hair that reflects the sun's rays.

"Say, let's play some volleyball" The roommate asks- who's name is actually Billy, but prefers to be called just 'B'; it sounds a lot tougher. B points towards a large volleyball net, which is hosting three girls and one guy who are already in a game. They seem to be about the same age as the college guys.

"Aight, fine. But don't try to hit on these chicks like you always do" Andy replies.

"It's not hitting on them, it's just charisma" B gloats.

"It's creepy bro" The two walk over to the volleyball net. When they both arrived earlier that day, they both realized they got there a bit too early, meaning they would have to find stuff to entertain themselves until the sun goes down. And B was not up for the inflatables, which is what Andy suggested.

As they approach the volleyball net, Andy makes sure his jacket sleeves are covering his spring arms. He would much rather not be wearing anything but swimming shorts like B is doing, but he knows he'll just get unwanted attention when people see that, instead of normal arms, he has rubber spring-like appendages. He is not ashamed by it, but does not want to be stared at all day long. B, on the other hand, would much rather be wearing a speedo so he can show off his ugly ripped hairy legs like a bodybuilder to impress people.

"Yo, can we play with you guys?" B asks. The ball is in the air as they all turn to face Andy and B. One of the girls catch the ball as they look at the two. But then Andy realizes they are all looking at him. He gets a bit nervous and pulls down his jacket sleeves.

".. Dude, your hair is amazing. How did you do that?!" One of the girls says. The other three players also ask, delighted to see the hairdo. Andy gives out a sigh of relief.

"I honestly don't know how I got it this way. Some hair dye, some messing with it, and some gel I guess" Andy laughs. And by some gel, he actually meant a lot of gel. A lot. "So, guess we'll play whoever wins between you guys"

"Oh, were not really keeping score. Come on in!" Another girl says, the one who caught the ball. Andy is surprised by how nice these people are. _Usually college kids are 'dirtbag-y' or just annoying. Take B for example_. Andy smiles a bit about his thought.

Andy joins the side with the guy and the girl who caught the ball as B heads towards the one with the two girls as they start to play once more. As they continue, most of the times the volleyball hits the ground is when one of the girls cover to head to not get hit and when it goes towards B. He does not have good aim, like he has no depth perception. "Come on man, get with it" Andy mocks B.

"It's not my fault you can't hit the ball good" B states as he serves the ball back over. When he would get a point for himself, he would jump up and make fun of Andy. But when he misses it, there is always an excuse behind it. Upon missing it again, B grabs the ball from off sand and looks towards the girls, "Watch this," He says, "I'm about to make the best serve of all time" He then throws the ball in the air and then smacks it as hard as he can.

Andy jumps up and spikes it back, hitting B right in the face with the ball. He falls down on the sand as everyone begins to laugh.

Andy, however, does not laugh. When he jumped in the air to spike it, he hopped towards the net. As he comes down, he falls on the net. Suddenly, the metal rods in the sand become loose, and the entire set tips over. The two girls step back as the net lands on B with the two metal rods splashing into the sand like belly flop. Others on the beach watch this as it happens.

"Geez, you alright?" One of the girls walk over to Andy and give him a hand. B crawls out from under the net.

"Yeah, I'm good. Dang, sorry about that" Andy says to the group. No one seems mad as they are more concerned to see if he is alright, since he did hit pretty hard. But then, police sirens come on from a distance.

 _Oh no.._ Andy thought. He has been at Buster Beach before, so he knows exactly what is happening, and who it is.

Busting out of the burger shack, a strange sight appears: A large dark-blue robotic being with a police siren for a head is riding on top of a rather large wheeled mechanism which is in the shape of a head of a dog. Now, to anyone else, this would the weird and terrifying as it came towards you. But, for the residents of Buster Beach, this is none other than the Beach Patrol.

The large robot rides over to the scene and hops off the dog head, which is wearing sunglasses. It looks at Andy with it's goggle like eyes. "That face distortion shows shines of guiltiness. Target acquired" It walks over to Andy, towering over him, "We meet again, Andy"

"Well geez, you remember me? That's nice of you" Andy replies.

"I have a thermal scan of you that gives me all your information. Andy Shurbak. 21. Attends Northwest Anken College. Has committed three major violations and many minor violations. Has a very pizza based diet-"

"That sounds like me"

"...And a pain in the butt" The robot says. It's monotone electronic voice makes the last part sound off, "You have just recklessly damaged a part of Buster Beach"

"Sorry about the net" Andy tells him.

"Seeing how you are here at Buster Beach, I can make an educated guess that you will be attending the concert hosted by Ribbonic Records later this evening at the Miyamoto Silver Theatre. It would seem to be- Barq!" The robot stops talking to notice the small dog robot is playing with the college kids, "Barq, we are on duty! Come here!" The little dog notices Byte and rolls over on his one wheel.

"Barq" Barq exclaimed.

"Mhm, 'sure' you were interrogating witnesses.." Byte turns back to Andy, "Like I was saying, It would seem to be a fair punishment to ban you from the concert tonight"

"What? No!" B steps in, "I bought this tickets. I have the right, man!" Byte's arm suddenly springs towards B and grabs the tickets. When the police force announced they would start to use robot intelligence to help and stop crime, one of the main features given to these robots were the extendable arms given to them, inspired by the supernatural fighters from long ago. Byte is one of many Police Android Units across the world. And his partner, Barq, is the K-9000, a counterpart to trained dogs used, since they were not sure if a robot could handle an actual dog.

Byte stares at the tickets when a red light shoots out of his eyes, scanning it. "It appears these tickets have not been stolen or faked," Byte looks at Andy, "Fine. You are lucky I am in a good mood today"

 _I wouldn't be able to tell_ , Andy thought.

"I will not confiscate your tickets, but you must help me fix the volleyball net back to it's original posture and you must then not step within ten meters of it or compete in the sport it represents. Do you comprehend what i have just said?" Byte asks. Andy nods his head.

"Barq"

Byte translates for him, "'If you do more tomfoolery from here on out though, we will ban your from the concert.' Nice thinking boy"

"Barq" Barq says happily. And from there, Andy helps Byte fix the net and Byte hops back on top of Barq and rides back to the burger shack. It looks silly.

* * *

Byte and Barq ride into the burger shack after dealing with those pesky teenagers. "Sorry about that Miss Pleat. The beach is rowdy today thanks to the concert" Byte says. Sitting at a table with her two bodyguards is none other than Kaitlyn in her disquise she wore when she went to the noodle house, but this time she has her hat.

"Don't worry, I understand Mr. Byte" Kaitlyn replies as she continues with her burger.

"Please, call me Byte. Mr. Byte is my father's name. He is a USB hard drive" Byte replies. Kaitlyn almost spits out her drink but stops herself.

"Barq"

"Ah, yes, 'and good job at catching that kid knocking over the volleyball net. We would not have saw it if you had not said anything'," Byte looks at Barq after saying the translation, "Wait, I would have Barq!" Byte says.

"Barq"

"What is that suppose to mean?" Byte seems to be having an arguement with his partner in crime, even though only one side could be heard. Earlier Kaitlyn was looking out the window watching the college kids play volleyball. The one that caught her eye the most was the one with the blue hair. It was so well made that she had to admire his. How can she not be a little jealous after spending so much time on her own hair and not having it at that level of creativity? But that was not all that she noticed.

"I wonder why he would have a jacket on at the beach. Kind of odd" Kaitlyn wonders.

Byte looks at Andy from the window, who is chatting with B as they head down to the beach. "I believe I know why since when I scanned him, but I am not allowed to share personal information about others unless they pose an immediate threat"

"So, he isn't a terrorist?" Kaitlyn smiles.

"That's not out of question" Byte replies. Kaitlyn giggles, even though the robot really does have Andy on his on 'Most Wanted' watch list. Kaitlyn goes back to her burger very sloppily like she always does until she begins to have a slight unease face. Byte immediately notices this, "Is there something wrong Miss Pleat? Is the burger not well done? I will go handle this with the chef right now-"

"No, no, it's fine Byte. It's just.. It's nothing really" Kaitlyn mumbles the end.

"Your face shows a hint of sadness. As your caretaker of the day I must handle this accordingly... Would you like to go swim Miss Pleat? We have a private pool made in case you did want to" Byte says.

".. That would be nice. Ok, let's go then" Kaitlyn gets up from her seat.

"I would advise you to wait thirty minutes after eating before performing any exercise, but who cares, you are my guest. Let us ride!" Byte exclaims as he hops on Barq. Seeing him ride that dog is so amusing to Kaitlyn and the bodyguards.

Kaitlyn was feeling sad though, for this was the time she would have spent with Minako.

Back at the beginning of middle school, Minako was always focused on her grades. She never talked to anyone except the teachers, occasionally, and she enjoyed it. When someone walked up to Minako, she was always scared they would ask about her arms, over even make fun of her. It happened a lot back in elementary.  
Because of this, she always wore a turtleneck sweater that went up to her fingers, even on the hottest days of spring. She also bought an oversized beanie to complete the look. Her parents did not really mind her not having friends as long as she never failed. The only time she would actually be herself was when she took her Karate class.

With her being so fierce in karate, but always having a huge sweater on everywhere else, her Dad always caled her a snapping turtle. He laughed everytime he said it.  
Oney day, after school in the bus lot, Minako saw something odd. It was some type of fist that looked to be on a spring, going up and down with everyone watching. Minako could not see that this was Kaitlyn, a brand new student who just moved in. She was showing off her arm skills.

".. And this is how I broke the refrigerator" Kaitlyn points her fist to the ground and shoots, flying her up in the air and then landing in a tree. The kids cheer as an old lady tries to force her down.

When Minako saw Kaitlyn up in that tree and everyone loving her arms, she had a sudden wave of happiness go through her. Later on that week, after plenty of tries and a lot of self doubt, Minako finally went up and talked to Kaitlyn, which ultimately led to her showing her arms to her.

After that, the two became inseparable. They would go everywhere together. It was more of a big sister little sister situation, with Minako always following Kaitlyn, even though she was an age older. They went to the park and got on the swings.

"Ok Min Min, I'm gonna push you. You ready?" Kaitlyn says excitedly.

"No" Minako looks terrified as she sits on the swing with Kaitlyn hands on her back.

"Good! HERE WE GO!" Kaitlyn shoots her arms out and swings Minako into the air. The swing wraps around the top as Minako feels queasy. And then she is flying through the sky. Kaitlyn runs over and catches her before she hits the ground.

For a good week or so, Minako did not leave the house after that until Kaitlyn took her out to ice cream.

They stayed friends throughout middle school, but things began to change. Kaitlyn had a talented gift of singing, and she always wanted to be a singer. And, when she went to go for her first audition at Ribbonic Records after countless hours signing papers and performing in front of her family and Minako, she got a record deal by her freshman year of high school. Minako always followed Kaitlyn around while she sung, but then when her popularity sky-rocketed after she was given the stage name 'Ribbon Girl' Kaitlyn barely had any time for Minako.

Then she left for the tour. And then went on her next tour. Then went to receive rewards for brand new artist and artist of the year. She hasn't been back to her old town since sophomore year, and with that, hasn't seen Minako in that time.

They tried to always call each other and text, but Kaitlyn soon stopped due to being to busy. It bothered Minako but she knew her best friend was loved by the entire world, like how she was back in the bus lot. But Minako did not want to share her with the world.

And here we are. Kaitlyn, now Ribbon Girl, back after all these years without her friend beside her at the only time she can.

Minako thought the same thing Kaitlyn has the entire day as she strained herself at her job. She kept an eye on the television for when the concert begins.

* * *

The night grew closer as the sun was pushed away, giving the impression that the main event was about to begin. A small television is turned on and it takes a moment for the images to be formed along with a high pitched squeak, showing the television's age.

"Come on! It's about to start!" A young girl pulls down a curtain to cover the open side of the garage since she has no door. On the other side was a rather large scrapyard that she has made home for herself. She then rushes over and grabs the giant machine and drags it to the small silver screen. The girl pulls out a small bag of popcorn.

"Check out what I got" She says, waving the popcorn bag in the robot's face.

Her life is pretty simple: She got pieces of junk from out of the scrapyard and made either something art fancy or something useful, and then she would sell it by the local grocery store. She told every person it was for her construction class, but it was actually for food so she can survive. The girl did not want to tell anyone about it though. She was not homeless; She has this small fort she made for herself and her old television she has kept around. And she has her best friend she has been working on for years beside her. Felt like home to her. The girl eats some popcorn and then throws one into the robot's opening, as if they ate it.

"There is about half an hour before we kick off this live concert event! Although we could not get an interview with Ribbon Girl herself, we have a few of her fans here today" A woman with a microphone states. It echoes through the small garage at the same time it barely makes a noise in the Mintendo Noodle House with the loud background noises. The noodle house is not as full as it was earlier due to everyone heading to the concert, but Minako must stay to clean up everything. Having a concert for kids and teenagers means you have kids and teenager's mess, which are the worst messes. As she mops the floor, she looks at the television hanged up in the corner of the restaurant and then springs her arm outwards to turn up the volume. Her father sees this.

"Stay focused Minako. No slacking off" Her father said, having his own chores to do.

"Sorry father. I thought there should be some white noise to keep us from going insane" Minako laughs and so does her father, who walks back to the dishes. Minako turns and watches the television, leaning on the mop.

* * *

In the actual arena, the seats begin to fill up quickly. Andy and B are not trying to get there early, and since they ordered there tickets online they did not have to worry about finding seats or finding tickets. Up at the front gate, a certain blue robot with his dog guarding the front door.

Byte asks for a group's tickets and examines them, "Hmm... Clear. Enjoy the concert" He says as Barq makes a sniffing movement on the group. Barq has a built in detector like airports do, so that he can sniff out any suspicious items on hand. The next group gives Byte their ticket, "Clear. Enjoy the concert" As Byte hands back their tickets, Barq suddenly goes off and makes an alarm noise.

The person looks startled. "What is it? What did I do?" Byte squats down as Barq explains the situation.

"Barq"

Byte slowly gets up and faces the person, "We must inform you that that candy you have in your bag contains traces of peanuts. There are several individuals here that have a very strong allergy towards peanuts" Byte holds out his hand, "Come on, the jig is up. Hand it over"

Andy and B walk up to the gate, next in line. Byte senses there presence and turns to look, "Oh boy.. Look, just be careful when eating that candy. Enjoy the show" Byte waves off the group as Andy walks up to him.

"'Sup Byte" Andy says, handing the ticket over.

"That is Mr. Byte to you.." Byte examines the tickets as Barq sniffs the two.

"So, you even working here tonight? You do everything, huh Byte?" Andy tries to strike up a quick conversation.

"Working? I am in charge!" Byte exclaims, "This is my beach after all" Even though it's technically not true, police officers do feel a sort of responsibility towards where they work at. Mall cops believe they are responsible for keeping the mall safe and sound. So naturally a Beach Patrol Robot with a pet dog would feel in charge of their beach. Plus, they have escorted Ribbon Girl the entire day since she arrived. "You sure these were not stolen? I mean, front seats?"

Andy laughs, "I'm pretty sure they weren't" Suddenly, Andy looks back at B, just to make sure he is making the right assumption.

"Well, with you in the front, that just makes it easier for me to keep my eye on you," Byte hands the tickets back, "Clear. Enjoy the show. And do not be stupid Andy"

"We'll do" He replies as he and B walk into the giant arena. The arena seems more like a place for monster trucks, with the sits all rising from a circle where the action takes place in the middle of the arena. On top of the circle is a large square-shaped podium that is higher than the normal ground, making it to where the singer will not be in a hole singing, but rather above the front row. The square is made of tiles which change colors ever so often. _It looks neat_ , Andy thought as B eventually finds their seat, which is very close to the stage that they will have to look up. But knowing concerts, they will probably have to stand soon anyway to fit with the crowd, so it is not bad at all.

* * *

Backstage, Kaitlyn is getting ready for the show. The crowd can be heard through the walls of the arena, getting her psyched up. The image of hat many people watching her does not faze her at all. She does not really have any stage fright, unlike Minako, who would be terrified. Kaitlyn remembers going to one of Minako's karate tournaments. She was so nervous even though there will be three other matches going on at the same time. Soon, Kaitlyn noticed Minako was missing ten minutes before her match and she went to go find her. She was in the restroom hiding. Kaitlyn went and comforted her in the stall.

"I can't do it Kaitlyn" Minako said, sobbing into her now damp karate shirt.

"Yes you can Min Min. You are amazing at karate, you just need to show it off. We all believe in you" Kaitlyn says, comforting Minako.

".. What if I lose-"

"It doesn't matter if you win or lose," Kaitlyn said instantly, as if she was waiting for Minako to say it, "What matters is that you are doing what you love. If there is a few missteps along the way, who cares? Now, I want to see you kick butt and that is exactly what you're going to do!" Kaitlyn says proudly. Minako looks up at Kaitlyn and then forms a small smile on her face.

Minako went on to win that match.

Kaitlyn found herself daydreaming again, and snaps out of it. This whole thing with Min Min was getting to her, but she must now focus on what she loves to do. Singing.

* * *

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, get out of your seats and put your hands together for the dashing, amazing, airess of the night: RIBBON GIRL"

The crowd goes nuts, kind of scaring Andy and B. The spotlights all point to the stage, which was forming a cool dance on the tiles, colors changing in unison. Then, out from the walkway, comes Ribbon Girl. The crowd roars as a giant monitor above them shows her up close.

"Where you at Miyamoto Theatre?!" Ribbon Girl says through her microphone. It was not like the crowd could get louder in Andy's opinion. "Let's kick it!" She points to the band that has suddenly appeared, and begins her first song. Andy and B decide to stand up like everyone else and play along with the upbeat song.

From the garage, The young girl starts jumping up and down, "There she is! Look!" She points her out to the robot, "Ribbon Girl. Yes!" Not only is she a fan of the old ARMS Grand Prix, but she also loves Ribbon Girl. One time she bought Ribbon Girl's album instead of dinner.

In the Mintendo Noodle House, Minako is doing pretty much the same thing. She has completely stopped cleaning and is now sitting on the nearest table to the television, watching her best friend sing on stage. She does not know if she will ever get use to Kaitlyn being so famous.

But they are not the only ones who are watching. On the roof of a giant hotel, a hulking figure in the shadows looks at the arena and sees through the open roof Ribbon Girl's face. A grin appears from the shadow.

"Found you"

* * *

As the first songs comes to a close, applause runs through the arena. Andy and B clap also. Andy realize this was actually pretty cool. Seeing this cute girl on stage singing upfront was a new experience rather than listening to her cheesy songs over the intercom at the Yabuki Gym.

The band begins to play a slightly slower song. "This next one goes out to best friends," Ribbon Girl says, "I know mine is watching, hey girl!" She waves to the camera.

A few people in the audience yell, "I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND" that makes Ribbon Girl laugh. At the Noodle House, Minako is blushing and brings her beanie down a little lower with a grin on her face.

As the song continues, the audience begins to pull out lights from their phones as if they were candles. Andy looks around at the sight. They look like the stars came down to them in the middle of the concert. As he peers around, a figure could be seen staring back from backstage. Byte watches Andy sternly, but all the college kid does is wave at him. Byte points at his goggles and then points at Andy, to give the intention of 'I'm watching you'. He does the same thing for Barq. Andy laughs a little bit.

The song finishes and a loud applause breaks the mood entirely. Then, the band begins playing a familiar tune, and everyone hops up and yells. Suddenly the college kids hear the song and looks at each other amazed.

"She made this?" B asks, eyes widen.

"Yo, this is my jam!" Andy starts getting into it like the crowd does. This song came on at the gym. It is one of their favorites, but they had no idea it was Ribbon Girl who sang it. Everyone in the crowd begins to fist pump to the beat of the song. Andy joins in, shaking his fist up in the air. It was fun, but then Andy got a bit to into it. A bit to into that he did not realize his hand shot out from the springs and flew into the air.

Everyone nearby looks startled by the odd thing fist shape flying through the air. Andy realizes what happened and tries desperately to bring his hand back down as B and him are getting stared at. The hand suddenly reaches the lights above and hits one of them, causing a small spark of explosion as it goes through the glass and lightbulb inside. Ribbon Girl turns to like at the light, continuing to sing. She stops singing though when she realizes what hit the light.

Silence flows through the arena, the only sound being the band, continuing to play the background song. _Well, now we know she isn't lip syncing_ , Andy thought, frozen. He then immediately brings his hand back into his jacket with everyone staring at him, including Ribbon Girl herself.

"Crap hole" Andy mutters as he looks to B for something that could help, but he does not say anything to Andy. Everyone is staring at him, including Byte, who was already on his way over from the other side of the arena, looking furious. But before he can get there, a hand comes towards Andy's face. He flinches, but then sees it is Ribbon Girl herself. Her arm is extended across the stage as she smiles at the blue hair college kid. She motions him to grab her hand. Andy is confused, but seeing that Byte is about to come and power-slam him any second now, he might as well.

He grabs Ribbon Girl's hand and pulls himself up on stage. "Hey everyone, looks like we have a special treat tonight. It seems we've found someone with arms like mine!" Ribbon Girl states. The crowd starts to cheer.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS HE DOING?!" Byte yells as he drives Barq as fast as he can through the aisles to get to the stage.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Ribbon Girl asks. She holds the microphone up to him.

".. A-Andy" His voice cracks, making the crowd laugh. Ribbon Girl grins as she puts her elbow on his shoulder.

"Well, Andy, it's nice to see someone else with these arms. Let's give him a round of applause!" Ribbon Girl points to Andy as the crowd cheers loudly. He starts to feel a rush of nervousness and relaxation, leaving him feeling confused but happy. Byte suddenly stops, making Barq do a braking noise. Byte hops off and looks on from the crowd.

In the Noodle House, Minako looks on, dumbfounded. _Another person with the arms. That is insane_. She has only known Kaitlyn to be the only other person to have the arms rather than the old stars, so seeing Andy makes her wide eyed.

"Uhh, uhh, Aaandy" The young girl makes fun of how he said his name and laughs to herself. She lays in front of the giant robot suit and looks at it, her smile fading. "... I wish I had arms like yours" She says silently. She grabs one of the suit's long arms and hold it to her side.

"Well, Uh, I guess I should be g-getting back.." Andy stutters, not into the microphone. Kaitlyn giggles.

"Alright dude, Make sure to catch me later-"

A powerful low roar is heard from the sky, louder than the cheering audience. It causes Kaitlyn to jump backwards and Andy confused. The band stops playing as the crowd looks up. Something that looks as if it was a meteorite is falling from the sky. And it's heading straight for the arena.

"Look out!" Andy grabs Kaitlyn and runs only to fall down when it lands hard on stage. Andy and Kaitlyn lay down as the crowd begins to freak out. Andy sits up, holding the part of his head that hit the ground and opens his eyes, "..What the heck is that?" Kaitlyn sits up to and looks also.

The ground around it forms a small crater, and the thing in the middle appears to get larger until it forms the silhouette of a giant man covered in wrapping like a mummy. It's two giant hands go up in the air and come back down, hitting it's knuckles together. The crowd starts to run away.

"I am King Maibe, the greatest Pharaoh of all time, and I have come to challenge Girlonteevee in arm-to-arm combat" His voice gets suddenly louder, "Accept or I will accept for you!"

"What are you talking about?" Kaitlyn yells, scared to death. Byte stands there, startled like the audience, but then realizes he has to do something. He hops back on Barq who goes as quickly as possible to the stage. As soon as Byte gets to the stage, however, giant purple hands wrapped with paper surround the three on stage, forming a square ring.

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT!" Byte yells with his police siren on. He begins to punch rapidly at the hands to get inside, but it does not budge.

"Do you except, or not?" Maibe yells.

Andy gets up, "Look.. I think there's been a misunderstanding here-" Before he can finish, Maibe shoots his fist towards Andy. Who screams and dodges it. He grabs Ribbon Girl and starts running in a circle as Maibe's fist follows them from behind, destroying the stage.

Maibe begins to laugh, "You can not run from King Maibe forever! Ha ha ha!" The fists hit the ground behind Andy as if a tank is shooting at them.

"Hey, knock it off man!" Andy yells. He puts down Kaitlyn and faces towards Maibe. The crowd has been evacuated as police and helicopters appear at the arena, called in by Byte. Everyone else vanished, including B. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but if you want a fight, come get it!"

"Ha ha! Let's go bad hairdo" Maibe mocks as he then lets out a roar. He shoots out his giant fists and Andy dodges.

"Ribbon Girl, go find someplace to hide" Andy tells her. His gym work out has made him strong, and this is not his first fight, even before he got the arms. Kaitlyn looks on, terrified.

As Andy dodges another punch, throws his own and uppercuts Maibe in below the chin, sending him in the air. He shoots out another fist that goes above Maibe and shoots down, making the Mummy fly downwards and hit the ground hard. Maibe rolls over and gets up, barely stunned.

"ARRGH" Maibe yells as he grabs Andy. Before Andy can react, Maibe picks him up and throws him down on the stage, breaking the tile he was under. As he lays there, Maibe continues to punch him with his giant fists, causing the stage to break even more. Maibe halts and laughs and Kaitlyn runs over to Andy, since she is stuck in the ring also.

"Oh my gosh. You ok?" Kaitlyn says urgently. A small moan is all that comes out of Andy, who is bruised up in the face and body. His jacket is torn beyond repair.

"Oh come on, it's over already? I was expecting fighters nowadays to improve over the years. Ha ha!" Maibe laughs. Kaitlyn begins to clench her fists as tears come down from her face.

"aaaaAAAAHHH" She yells as she starts wailing punches on an unsuspecting Maibe. She shoots her arms out as hard as she can as tears pour out. Maibe then starts to block the punches.

"There we go, now were having fun!" Maibe says as he dashes to the left, dodging Kaitlyn's onslaught. He then sends out his own fist as her, which she gets hit back and flew backwards, her back hitting on of the giant hands.

In the garage, the young looks on in shock, covering her mouth as she watches what is happening. Minako is doing the exact same thing. "Minako, what are you watching? You need to get back to-" Her father walks in as Minako stands up and runs for the door. "Hey, Minako! Where are you going?" Before he can stop her, she is already rushing out of the restaurant and to the arena. Her father then looks at the television, to see the carnage that is happening.

"HuuuaaGGHHH" Ribbon Girl yells as she continues to swing at Maibe. Even though he has not fallen yet, his face is getting badly bruised by Kaitlyn.

"Is that all you got?" Maibe says. He then gets punched in the face. His eyes light up as he roars and shoots out his giant fists at Kaitlyn. Andy, who has been laying down on the ground, gets up slowly.

"Hey, ya' jerk, over here!" Andy yells as Maibe turns around. When he does, Kaitlyn sees it as the perfect opportunity and she hops on top of the mummy, covering his eyes.

"What the-?!" Maibe tries to pull her off but Andy starts to rapidly punch his stomach. On his last blow, Maibe breaths out hardly and holds his chest. He falls to his knees.

"We've got you now! Huh?" Kaitlyn then notices that Maibe is beginning to glow. As she is distracted, he grabs her back and throws her off and she lands on top of Andy. They both lay down in pain and then get back up to see a strange sight: Maibe is glowing.

"PHARAOH FURY!" Maibe yells as his giant punches start to rapidly hit both Andy and Kaitlyn. When his glowing fades away, Andy and Kaitlyn lay on the ground, barely moving. "Ha Ha! I am now the strongest fighter IN THE WORLD!" Maibe laughs.

Byte continues to punch the giant hands as if he was shooting a gun, until a strange noise is heard behind him. "Huh? AHH!" A foot lands on Byte's forhead as a figure jumps from him over to giant hands. The figure lands down in front of Andy and Kaitlyn.

It is Minako.

Maibe looks a bit confused, but then smiles, "Well now, a new challenger it seems. Do you think you can seriously defeat the great King of arm combat?" As he says that, Minako stands in a karata pose. "Hmm. Ok then" Maibe instantly shoots out his fists at her, but she dodges instantly.

As Maibe continues to to punch, Minako dodges every hit, "What on earth? Stop moving!" Maibe yells. Minako replies by dashing up right into Maibe's face and then roundhouse kicks him in the chin.

The mummy stumbles backwards, stunned. "Hey!" He yells, "This is arm combat, not fair-" Before he can continue his rant, Minako starts laying down the punches at every angle, making it impossible for Maibe to block or dodge. She then hops on top of him and hurricanrana's him on to the floor. Her legs hold as he hits the floor, leaving her sitting on his throat. Before he can collect himself, Minako shoots her arms out maliciously at Maibe's face. He grabs her and throws her off, flinging her across the arena. Minako lands on her feet.

"AAAUURRGHH" Maibe gets up and throws giant punches, which Minako dodges in air. He throws one punch, she dodges. He throws a second and she dodges. Maibe slings a third, but Minako dodges and points her fist as Maibe like a gun. Suddenly her arm turns into a neck of a dragon.

"WHAT?" Maibe looks on as a dragon head replaces Minako's fist. A giant ray comes from the dragon's mouth and hits Maibe square on. Minako lands, keeping her expression the same, even though she has no idea what just happened. Maibe stands there, stunned in pain. Minako slowly moves her hand towards Maibe's forehead. She pokes him and he falls down hard, unconscious.

Andy and Kaitlyn, although still hurt, watched the whole thing. They both stare at Minako. In return the Asian girl looks back towards them and runs over, her expression changing from anger to shock.

"Kaitlyn? Are you ok? Kaitlyn! Please!" Minako gets on her knees and starts to cry. Kaitlyn hugs her best friend.

"I'm fine, Min Min. Don't cry" She was not really, but Kaitlyn tries to calm Minako down, who is sobbing wildly. Andy watches the two and then turns to see the giant mummy in the middle of the stage. The giant hands slowly vanish, revealing an armada of police. They all go towards Maibe with guns. Byte and Barq jump on top of him, cuffing his hands. And legs. And neck. Just everything he could until a female police officer pulls him off. Byte kicks the fainted Maibe in the leg as he is being pulled away.

The female police officer then walks towards Andy and the girls, "Are you guys ok? We have an ambulance for you all on the way"

"I'm fine officer" Andy says, trying to get up. The pain hurts so bad, that he falls about over until the officer catches him.

The police continue to surround the arena as Kaitlyn, Minako, and Andy are put in an ambulance. Maibe is shoved into the back of a black police van with Byte and Barq riding beside the body, watching him.

The entire fight was shown on television. The young girl looks on her small screen as the news tries to explain what happened, but no one knows for sure what just happened at the concert.

* * *

Another person is watching the events, but instead on a large flat screen. They sit in a recliner, smiling.

"Interesting..." The person says. The person then looks at their trophy case, which is full. One says '1st place. ARMS Grand Prix - 1990. Max Brass'.

* * *

 **Man, that was almost twice as long as the first chapter. Geez, what a concert, huh? So, how will this attack from King Maibe affect the rest of the characters? And what does Max Brass have in mind? Find out next chapter. Thank you so much for reading and please leave a review. I hope you enjoyed this, because I did! I'm planning on the next chapter to not be as long after something like this. So stay tuned!**


	3. The Irritating Interrogation

**Howdy. Well, it looks like that, as of now, I have the longest fanfiction of ARMS on the site so far, so teehee~. But I would just like to thank everyone who has read this, you guys rock. I'm also pleased so many of you are enjoying it and are cool with some of the changes I've made so far, most importantly the names. Let's get back into this after that crazy last chapter, shall we?**

* * *

The tapping on a keyboard is the only thing heard in the quiet dark room, lit up by one light hanging from the ceiling. Giant computers ran across the walls, collecting data as the testing continued it's course. A young man in a lab coat pushes their glasses up as they type on their computer at their desk, which sits in front of a large window, taking up most the wall. The scientist looks at some calculations on the computer and then stands up and heads towards a table which had a vast amount of chemicals on it.

The elevator slowly makes it's way down to the cellar, rotting from age, holding another scientist, slightly older, inside. As it arrived to it's destination, a large metal door stood in front of them. The scientist swipes a card through a scanner where a voice declares, 'ACCESS GRANTED' And the door slowly opens.

The older scientist walks into the room, "So, has anything significant happen since I've been gone?"

"Nope. The subject has been moderately stable" The young scientist answers as he pours a strange ooze into a test tube. He picks up the tube and smiles at the older scientist, "Not for long though"

The ooze pours into a vent that goes through the window. "Ok, when I say g- I mean.. now, turn the vents on. Ready?" The scientist asks. The other one shakes their head and put's their finger over a button on the keyboard. "And... Now!" The vents begin as the scientist quickly places a lid over the vent to keep the toxic gas from seeking into their room. The toxic gas instead makes it's way inside the other room, shown through the window. The air in the other becomes solid green as banging could be heard inside, muffled out by the large thick glass.

"Say, did you hear what happened on the news" The older scientist begins to make small talk.

"No, what happened?"

"Well, you know that Ribbon Girl?" The other scientist smirks.

"Of course I do. Most of our studies have been on her" The young scientist ignores the strange noises from the other room which sounds like screaming.

"Well," The older scientist stretches their back, "Three other people with the arms showed up at her concert. They all started fighting"

The young scientist face lit up and became very happy, "What? There's more?"

"Yessiree. Which is gonna make our research a lot more easier, instead of just using a singing teenager as our only point of reference" The older scientist laughs, followed by the other scientist joining in. Suddenly, a fist comes straight towards the glass and punches it, shaking the window violently. It does not break, but the two scientist get startled and immediately focus on the situation.

"Should we turn the gas off now?" The young scientist asks.

"No. Wait a couple more minutes. Make sure the subject is never stable through it all" loud noises straight out of horror films bounce off the window as the scientists get back to work, unfazed.

* * *

"I don't know what you're talking about" Maibe mumbles as he sits in an interrogation room, tied down like a wild animal with cuffs and chains, his giant hands strapped onto a grey table. His face shows a hint of annoyance, which is not surprising since the one on the other side of the table is Byte.

"As of now, you have violated many major laws, suitable for expensive fines and extensive jail time for that horrendous act you just pulled off. You are now considered a terrorist" Byte declares.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Maibe repeats, Byte stands up as Barq rolls in from the corner of the room.

"Barq"

"No, we are not permitted to do that Barq," Byte answers back, "You have a sick little mind, you know that" The large robot circles the table around Maibe. Byte does not look as large when being in the same room as the mummy.

Byte begins his speech once more, "You must tell us everything you know or we will be forced to take extreme measures. Now," Byte throws his hands on the table very loudly, not scaring the Pharaoh in the slightest, "WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?"

".. What?" Maibe asks.

"WHERE IS THE MONEY?!"

"Listen to me, you ignorant fool!" Maibe raises his voice louder than it was before, "I have no clue what you're speaking of or why I'm stuck in this desolate room with you. I did nothing wrong!"

"Did nothing wrong? DID NOTHING WRONG? You destroyed the Miyamoto Silver Theatre, scared an entire crowd of fans half to death, and damaged the reputation of Buster Beach! My Beach!" Byte walks over beside Maibe, "Looks like I am going to have forcefully extract the information from you myself"

Byte's hand morphs into what appears to be a taser. "We will see if you have no clue now" As he says that, Byte turns on the taser and zaps Maibe's side. Maibe laughs as Byte continues.

"No, no stop! That tickles!" A hearty laugh escapes Maibe. Byte continues to zap him.

"Yes! Let to pain seek through you!" Byte continues his onslaught as Maibe laughs very loudly.

"NO! AHH! HAHA! STOP!" Barq just sits in the corner, head tilted in confusion.

* * *

Outside the interrogation room, a female police officer listens through the door of Maibe screaming. _Dang, Byte must really be going at him_ , she thinks to herself as she walks towards the waiting room.

Five figures are sitting in the waiting room of a local police station. The two bodyguards sit on both sides of Minako and Kaitlyn, who are both holding hands. Minako looks a lot worse, her leg moving up and down rapidly, her grip stronger than Kaitlyn's, but both are in a pretty bad mental state. Minako just witnessed her best friend losing in a fight on national television and saw her get hoisted into the back of an ambulance. Kaitlyn is traumatized by the fact a giant man crashed into her concert. The rest is really a blur to her, but she remembers Minako saving her. Andy sits pretty far away from the girls, intimidated by the large figures surrounding them.

The incident at the Theatre is the only thing talked about on the news as the television plays in the top corner of the waiting room. It just happened the night before, so the three victims had a night to rest before being brought to the police station. Not like any of them was able to sleep. Probably most of the people who were at the concert were not be able to sleep. The news shows the events play out again and again, showing from a helicopter point of view of Andy and Kaitlyn being brought down by the giant man and then Minako coming in to save them. As the videos on the television play on, Minako gets a bit more tense, visibly trying to avoid the screen. Andy notices this and springs his arm out to press the power button. Kaitlyn silently thanks Andy with a small nod.

A strange event occurred at the emergency room Andy and Kaitlyn were taken to. Even though they got bruised up in the fight, both recovered very quickly. There was really no point to keep them in the hospital any longer because both were fine within an hour. The police escort them to a place to stay under their supervision and request them to go to the police station to collect information on what happened. Everyone was confused how they recovered so fast, but it was put off as a miracle.

The waiting room silence was unbearable to Andy. It felt as if he was trapped inside a box. So, Andy decides he should make some small talk. He walks over to the two girls, "I should probably introduce myself-"

"Hey, back off!" One bodyguard angrily says, making the silence definitely go away. The other bodyguard is already preparing to stand up.

"Ricardo, it's fine. Seriously" Kaitlyn softly says to Ricardo. The two bodyguards slowly ease back into their seats in unison and cross their arms together. "What were you saying, now?" Kaitlyn smiles.

Andy tries to pick back up his train of thought, "I was just gonna introduce myself. I'm-"

"Andy, was it?" Kaitlyn asks. She remembers his voice cracking on the microphone when he said it.

"Yeah, that's me" He says confidently.

Kaitlyn smiles, "It's easier to get that out when there isn't so many people watching, huh?"

"Hey man, I wasn't ready for that. If I knew you were gonna do that I would've fixed up my hair better, ya' know" Andy laughs as he points to his light-blue swirly hair. It seems he's always ready for the camera with how much time he takes in the morning to make it perfect with how much gel and hairspray he uses.

Kaitlyn lets out a small laugh, which eases the tension of the past day, "Well, my name is Kaitlyn. And this is Min Min" She pats Minako's hand, which makes her jump.

".. H-Hi" Minako gets out of her mouth faintly.

"'Sup. Man though, that concert was fun. You really rocked it" Andy comes up with the best topic he can.

"Why, thank you" Kaitlyn replies.

"And you," He looks towards Minako, "That was sick what you did-" Andy cuts himself off as he realizes he probably should not be talking about it. A stream of awkwardness floods the room as no one says anything.

"It's really something to meet another person with the arms" Kaitlyn says out loud, looking at Andy's arms. With his jacket being ripped apart in the fight, the police gave him a short sleeve white t-shirt to wear, thus revealing his blue arms.

"Yeah," Andy replies, "The only person that I knew that had these things were you. But then your friend Min proved me wrong there" Andy smirks. Kaitlyn looks over at Minako, who has still barely moved from her tense state. Kaitlyn looks worried, hoping her friend would at least speak more.

Minako turns her eyes towards Kaitlyn, who tilts her head to Andy, as if saying, 'Say something to him'. Minako looks up at Andy and pauses. "... How did you get your hair to look like toothpaste?" That's all she can get out until the female officer walks in.

"So, everyone feeling ok? Need anything?" She says. She's the same officer that caught Andy before he fell after the fight. She introduced herself as Officer Radcliffe. She is usually on duty, pulling people over and writing them tickets, but she serves another purpose. Radcliffe is Byte's human helper, incase the robot malfunctions or there is a major problem at the beach. Most of the time Byte can handle it and she knows that. But every robot police officer is required to have a human police officer on stand by if things mess up. Byte has never malfunctioned due to his safe nature, but Barq had to get fixed once after joining a ice cream eating contest.

"I'm fine Officer. How about you?" Kaitlyn looks at Andy.

"I'm aight, I'll go get some pizza later" Andy laughs.

Radcliffe looks at Minako, "Are you ok, ma'am?" Minako is still shaking a bit, "It's pretty early in the morning. If anyone wants coffee I can get you some"

Kaitlyn giggles, "I don't think Min Min needs any coffee at all" She jokes about how jittery Minako is becoming. Only Kaitlyn could say that and have Minako smile a tiny bit and finally relax a little.

* * *

In the interrogation room, the taser has not been as affective as Byte hoped it would have. Byte crouches down to Barq's level and whispers, "None of our tactics are working... Ok, I have an idea. We should do Good Cop Bad Cop. I will be Good Cop and you be Bad Cop, got it?"

"Barq" Barq whispers.

Byte stands back up and leans on the table and crosses his leg and turns to Maibe, "Look pal, I think we got off on the wrong foot here-" Barq instantly jumps across the room and lands on Maibe and starts attacking him.

"BARQ! BARQ! BARQ!"

"GET THIS FOUL BEAST OFF OF ME!" Maibe yells, tied down to the table.

"NO! BAD BOY! DOWN! STOP IT!" Byte tries to pull off Barq.

* * *

The sudden roaring and yelling from the room echoes through the police station and into the waiting room. Minako quickly goes back to her pent up state she was in before. "Now what are they think they're doing?" Officer Radcliffe says angrily and walks back to the interrogation.

For some reason, Kaitlyn stands up and follows her. Because of this, the bodyguards do also, along with Minako. Since everyone left, Andy goes ahead and does the same. _I guess curiosity got to all of us_ , he thought.

As she approaches the hallway door, through the one way glass beside the door shows Byte frantically running around the table. Radcliffe swings the door open and finds Byte trying to pull off Barq who is on top of Maibe. The officer goes unnoticed until she brings her whistle from her neck to her mouth and blows into it. Barq immediately jumps down and stands beside Byte, as if programmed to. Byte tenses up.

Maibe closes his eyes and opens them back up, "Thanks for that noise. Real nice" Maibe says as Radcliffe blows her whistle again.

She walks over to Byte and Barq, "What are you clowns doing?"

".. Interrogating" Byte says reluctantly.

"Mhm. So what have you got out of him?" Radcliffe puts her hands on her hips.

".. Nothing" Byte replies. Barq whimpers. As the officer argues with the robot, the crowd appears at the doorway. Maibe notices them before Radcliffe does.

"Ugh, finally," Maibe sighs in relief, "You guys can vouch for me, right?" Kaitlyn and Minako look confused. The bodyguards block Andy's sight as he tries to jump over there shoulder to see what is happening. Radcliffe finally notices them.

She runs over to Kaitlyn and Minako and closes the door behind them. She bends over to get eye level with them as she is much taller, "You guys shouldn't be here, this is private business-"

"Actually, I would like to talk to him. If I may" Kaitlyn gently commands. Minako looks at her, surprised. Radcliffe takes a second to think, but then decides she can.

Radcliffe slowly opens the door back up, allowing Kaitlyn into the room.

Maibe looks at her, ".. Hello-"

"AAAARRRGGGHHH" Kaitlyn yells as she furiously runs towards Maibe, getting ready to punch him. Her two bodyguards dash in and hold her by the arms before she can get to him. "I'LL DESTROY YOU. YOU WORMY TRASHY NO GOOD.." She tries to kick him as she gets pulled back outside.

Before Radcliffe can slam the door and scold Ribbon Girl, Maibe laughs, "Yes! That's the warrior spirit of a true fighter Girlonteevee!"

Radcliffe turns to Maibe, "She's not a fighter.. Well maybe.." Kaitlyn has calmed down a tiny bit, but still holding a face of anger.

"And you," Maibe turns towards Minako smiling, "You and I have to get a rematch someday. About time I have found a worthy opponent up to my league of skill!" He laughs as she looks dumbfounded. This scary humongous man was laughing about crashing into a concert and beating up innocent people. "Now, why am I here? This annoying headache won't give me any answers. He speaks in fluent gibberish"

Byte's goggles focus in on Maibe's face, "My actions are always pre-calculated and expressed to the best of my ability and programming"

"See?" Silence goes through the room as Maibe feels left out of something, "What is it?"

".. Did you think you were at a fight yesterday?" Radcliffe asks.

Maibe smirks, "Duh. It was a fight... Right?"

"'Maybe', was that your name?"

"Maibe, actually" He corrects her, even though the two sound very similar.

Radcliffe, "Maybe. Maibe. Whatever. That 'fight' you barged in and attacked children, sir, was a concert" She draws concert out as if talking to a preschooler.

".. What's a concert?"

She tightens up with fists clenched together like the officer is about to explode. Byte notices this, "You want me to sick Barq on him again?"

"Arms fighting hasn't happened since, oh, I don't know, the 90s! How can you be so dumb?" Radcliffe asks Maibe.

"Wait, there's no fighting anymore?" Maibe ponders for a second, ".. That's lame"

Radcliffe pinches her nose between her eyes, "Everyone, out in the hallway. Now" Byte and Barq exit the room as Maibe tries to get up, "NOT YOU!" Maibe sits back down. The policewoman closes the door behind her and turns to Byte. "What do you think?"

Byte has already prepared for this question, "It appears that he had no recollection of past experiences. He has no idea what a theatre is, cars, or that arms fighting has ended 20 or so years ago. My diagnosis: Extreme amnesia"

"Barq"

Radcliffe takes off her hat and runs her hand through her hair that is up in a bun underneath. Andy barges in on the conversation, "So, wait, there's something wrong with him. I thought he was just a jerk"

"Well, it seems that he's not a jerk, but mentally unstable. Though he talks fairly normal, it seems he has no memory of anything. He might need an asylum for all we know" Officer Radcliffe states, "But how do we know if he is not playing dumb? Byte, what information popped up when you scanned him?"

"That's the thing. I scanned him multiple times throughout the past hour and yet I have no traces of him anywhere. No background, no DNA match, no fingerprint match, it is as if he doesn't exist" Byte says, "Speaking of which, Barq, keep an eye on him in case he vanishes or something"

"Barq"

"It is not a silly. Fine, I will do it" Byte walks over to the window and presses his face on the one way glass and stares at Maibe, who is looks very bored and lets out a small cough. "He is not teleporting anywhere on my watch"

"Stop looking dumb Byte" Radcliffe says, "Let's all just head back in and this time play along with his act. Maybe we will get actual answers" She turns to the three kids in the hallway. "Maybe you three can help me out. He seems to trust you guys for some reason"

"We can do that" Andy says, looking at the girls. Kaitlyn has a very different face than she did earlier.

"DId I just threaten a disabled person?" Kaitlyn asks. Minako sees this is bothering her friend. She has never seen Kaitlyn have an outburst like that until when Maibe crashed the concert and just now.

"He has not vanished yet" Byte is still looking through the window.

* * *

Everyone enters the room all at once, which makes Maibe a bit anxious, "If I am getting jumped, then unstrap me so I may have a fair chance" He smiles at the thought of it.

"No, we just want to have a talk. Get to know you. These three will be helping out with this" Radcliffe says, pointing at Kaitlyn, Andy, and Minako. "So, where you from?"

Maibe lays back a bit in the chair he is strapped, "Well, I was born in the great land of Egypt, born during the reign of Pharaoh Adafulu.." As he speaks, Byte looks at Radcliffe, giving off an astonished look the best way a robot can. He's been trying to get this information out of him the entire time with failure, but Radcliffe does it and gets it first try. Maybe the taser was not the best approach.

So Maibe went on and on, declaring his life story as if he is writing an autobiography of himself. It is uninteresting at first, but then the three kids actually get into his story. "So what was her name?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Ah. Her name was Kushar. The most beautiful girl I have ever met. Eyes shined like the sun as if they were made by Ra himself. I knew that I had to make her my wife"

"Did you?" Andy asks.

"Eventually. Took a few tries. Plus, I was traveling a lot, trying to get into fights to gain glory, so I could not ask her immediately. But I did and she said yes. We then had two kids, a strapping boy named Maibe the Second and a beautiful daughter named Razma. They would make a perfect Pharaoh to live out my legacy when I was gone. I wonder how they did actually" Maibe explained. Radcliffe look vaguely interested, only waiting for useful information to figure out who this man is. He continued on, but began side-tracking into unimportant subjects at the kid's request.

"What, you did what?" Andy's eyes widen.

"We took a ball carved from bronze the size of a head and threw it up in the air. Whoever caught the ball when it came down earned a point. If you threw it into the sun, you won right there. So we tried chucking that thing as hard as we can and then try to catch it" Maibe laughs.

Kaitlyn looks at the laughing mummy, ".. That sounds dangerous"

"Oh, it was, a lot of us died," Maibe replies. The comment made Kaitlyn uncomfortable, "It changed boys to men. You get it, right?" Maibe looks to Andy.

"Ah, well.. Can't honestly say I've played ball suicide ever" Andy says.

Maibe nods his head, "Everyone comes around.. boy" Everyone laughs at this as Maibe continues, "Yes. I was going to teach my son the game, but I did not have the time to. I did not realize I forgot to teach it until right before I..." His voice trails off. He coughs and moves on to another subject.

He continues on with his stories of living in ancient Egypt. The only thought in Radcliffe's mind was confusion, _How can someone with amnesia make up so many detailed accurate stories?_ Everyone notices Maibe skips over his 'death' but nobody questions it. He then gets into waking up in a box.

"So I step out into a magnificent tomb into the night. The shrine is not as big as other Pharaoh's had, those big pointy things, but it was fair. Not sure why it was not in Egypt though" Maibe explains.

Radcliffe eyes pop up as you do if you figure out a riddle, ".. So where did you wake up?"

Maibe shakes his head, "I do not remember. It sounded like seament, which I do not know what that means. There were rocks labelled in what I am guessing your writing, yes?"

Byte walks forward as he has been standing in the corner, observing the stories, "A cemetery?"

"That's it!" Maibe nods.

"Byte, research any incidents that have happened recently in nearby cemeteries" Radcliffe orders. You can tell Byte is looking through a catalog of information through his eyes.

"If it helps with whatever you two are doing, there was a small ugly man with a strange smell" Maibe helps out.

Barq is doing the exact same thing as Byte, looking through any police records of Maibe's description.

"Barq!"

"What's that? You found something boy? Send it to me" Barq makes a strange noise and suddenly a loud 'YOU GOT MAIL' comes from Byte's speakers. "Sorry, thought I had it on vibrate" The robot begins to observe the information. "Oh my.."

"What is it?" Kaitlyn boasts, intrigued. She lowers her voice back down as everyone looks at her.

"It appears that, recently, a large man came out of the mausoleum located at Master Hampton Cemetery that belonged to.. King Maibe" Byte reads. Radcliffe stands up.

"You can't be serious right now" She replies.

"It then reports that he violated a janitor before running off into the woods"

Maibe smiles, "I would not call it 'violated' but whatever goes nowadays. That is how you use to get information in my day"

Radcliffe begins commanding Byte, "Call the owner of that cemetery and get me on the phone with them, now!" The officer looks at the rest of the group, "We are.. going to step outside. You three, chat with him some more" The robot and his dog follows her to the end of the hallway.

Minako, who has been as silent as the bodyguards, finally speaks up. "When you said 'giant pointy things'," Minako says, "Were you talking about the pyramids?"

"What is this pyramid you know knowledge of?" Maibe asks.

"Here, look" Minako pulls out her phone she had in her pocket and pulls up an image of the pyramids of Egypt and shows Maibe.

The mummy looks confused, "No, that can not be them. First off, they were not that small"

".. It's a picture, not actual size" Minako smiles a tiny bit, surprising Kaitlyn.

"Oh, well, it's still not them. The ones I am speaking of were covered in white limestone, so that the Pharaohs became part of the sky when the sunlight shot at them, making them bright. You know, those lights at night are old Pharaohs of Egypt" Maibe talks as if he is a teacher.

Minako thinks about it, "Well, when they were first built, they were white. But then the white corroded away over.. thousands of years.."

".. Have I really been gone for that long?" Maibe reflects. Minako looks back at Kaitlyn for help. Maibe speaks up again, "So, Girlonteevee, you and your friends are not fighters?"

Kaitlyn steps forward, "Uhh, no. First off, my name is Kaitlyn. Second, I'm a singer"

"What's that?"

Kaitlyn tries to put into a way he can understand, "Well.. I use my voice... To entertain people-"

"Ah. I see, you are an entertainer. I've met a few of those in my time. You swallow the fire, right?" Maibe asks.

".. Sure..." Kaitlyn plays along. "Min Min works at a ramen noodle diner, and Andy.. Uhh" Kaitlyn realizes she barely knows him to introduce him.

"I work at a pizza place" Andy finishes her sentence. More like about to be fired from a pizza place honestly. Andy has never kept a stable job since college began. He got fired from restaurants, grocery stores, and even hair salons. Most of the time it is because of his attitude, laziness, or his arms getting in the way.

"Now, what is pizza?" Maibe asks.

Andy shoots up, "You NEVER had pizza? Oh, it's the best food in the world!"

"Not really.." Minako interrupts. Kaitlyn giggles.

"Well, in my opinion it is. You should try it some time man, the pizza place I work at it one of the best in the world-" Suddenly, Andy stops talking and realizes something. He's talking to a considered terrorist chained up to a chair. This entire time, they have felt as if they were chatting with a friend with Maibe, or a smart teacher. But then the image of the mummy attacking Kaitlyn and Andy maliciously pops into everyone's mind. Even Maibe feels it, as he also fell for the same problem.

".. Well in any case," Maibe brings up, "I'm... I should've been more careful when I showed up to your.. concert. I didn't realize how long I've been gone. I just assumed it was a tournament"

"How did you make that assumption?" Kaitlyn asks.

"The bright lights, the cheering fans. Two of you standing in an arena. I was sure it was." Maibe replies.

Kaitlyn ponders for a second, "Well.. if you did think it was fight, you didn't barge in like that!"

"That's how you got into the fights back in my day!" Maibe strikes back, "If you wanted to be noticed for the gift of these arms, you could not ask for a fight. You made your own!" Maibe calms back down. ".. It's just frustrating how there is no more arm combat no more in these days. It lets the gift from the Gods we four have go to waste. No one could do what we could.."

"Hey, you guys, come here real quick. Listen to this" Radcliffe walks over to the group and motions them to walk over to Byte. Although how strangely it was worded, Kaitlyn saw Maibe's speech as a form of apology in his own way.

* * *

The group walks over to Byte, who's chest has turned into a phone, with a number dial and screen. "You have a phone in you man? Rad! You never told me" Andy says.

"I would surely not tell you about it, knowing you" Byte remarks to Andy. Kaitlyn wonders if they know each other.

"What was that?" A voice come from Byte's chest.

"We were not talking to you sir," Radcliffe replies, "On the phone is the only witness account from Master Hampton Cemetery"

"Hello!" It was the janitor.

"Now, can you please repeat the events from that day?" Radcliffe asks.

"Well, I was doin' my normal cleaning routine of the gravestones when this guy walked out of the tiny house. Big guy. Tried his best to look scary" As the janitor said that, Minako surprisingly chuckles, surprising everyone that it was her.

"So, he told me, 'WHERE'S EGYPT' and I was like, 'you can fly there', and he said, 'I'M NO BIRD. WHERE'S THAT GIRL ON TV?'" the janitor re-enacts the scene.

"Wait, how did he know about me?" Kaitlyn wonders.

"Oh, you're there. Well, he asked him if I knew anyone with those arms of yours. I'm also real sorry about what happened, it was my fault really" The janitor states.

"It's fine. We are all ok now" Kaitlyn replies.

"By the way, my daughter loves ya', and my son has a crush on ya'. They gonna freak out when I tell them 'bout this" The janitor laughs.

"That's all we needed sir. Thank you for helping. Take care" Radcliffe clicks end on the call. She crosses her arms together and thinks.

".. He is in on it. He is a terrorist too" Byte outburst about the janitor makes a funny image in everyone's head.

"I doubt it Byte," The officer replies, "But this all just doesn't make since. Either he is a mastermind disguiser who is mentally unstable who has the only knowledge of the Pharaoh that actually lived and has no traces of him being around in the past twenty years, or.."

"This is the first recorded evidence of the undead" Byte finishes her sentence.

"Like a zombie?" Andy asks.

"I AM NOT AZOMBIE. WHO IS THAT?" Maibe roars. The door was opened the entire time.

" _This doesn't concern you!"_ Radcliffe yells back.

 _"Yes it does!"_ Maibe mocks the way she yells.

".. Can someone go close his door-"

The door to enter the waiting room flings open, revealing a shorter, more rounder female officer. "Uhh, Officer Radcliffe? There is someone who wants to see one of the witnesses.. Very badly..."

"MINAKO!" A loud voice can be heard across the halls. Minako's heart drops.

"Can't they wait a little longer?" Radcliffe asks.

"They have been waiting. For a while" The other officer replies.

Radcliffe shrugs, "Fine, bring them in" Suddenly, Minako's family rushes into the waiting room when the officer motions them in, including her father. Minako looks scared.

Her father sees her, "Minako!"

"Father, I'm so sorry, I-" He runs over a hugs his daughter with all his might. The rest of the family follows.

"Oooh, Minako, that was amazing what you did last night! You are a hero! I'm so proud of you!" The father rapidly spits out many things he has been wanting to say for the past day.

"But what about my chores?"

"Oh, I got Daichi to do them for you" Her father replies.

"Yeah. Woohoo. Such a hero" Her older brother says back. Minako smiles so far the biggest she has all day. Maybe she was scared of her father more than the incident. Speaking of which, the company of Kaitlyn and Andy has not showed up to the police station at all. Kaitlyn was called by her tour bus and the head of Ribbonic Records the night before while comforting Minako last night at the police supervised hotel sweet. She explained how she was alright and that they can sue Maibe if they want. She might change her mind now though. And B hasn't called nor text Andy since the incident.

Her father turns to Kaitlyn, "You must be Ribbon Girl. Ah, it's such a pleasure" He shakes her hand violently and then looks at Andy. "Toothpaste boy!"

"Why is your entire family calling me that?" Andy playfully says to Minako. Her father then looks at Maibe, chained down.

"And you, big scary guy" Her father says.

"Hello there small ugly man" Maibe greets.

"Boy, my daughter kicked your butt, didn't she?" Her family laughs.

Surprisingly so does Maibe, "Yeah, she did. We are gonna have to have a rematch soon"

Minako blushes as Kaitlyn hugs her again, "Yeah, you were awesome, Min Min. Thank you" She hugs her friend back.

Andy sees this as an opportunity, "Yeah, that was sick what you did-" Minako gives him an angry glance, "Oh, really? Come on"

Minako smiles, toying with Andy, "Thank you" She says. Radcliffe escorts the family to the waiting room so they can handle the investigation. When she turns the television back on, the father yells at the television.

"Hey look, it's that big guy from that movie!" Her father yells. His voice has not been toned down since he arrived. The rest come over to the screen as Radcliffe turns up the volume. A large man in what appears to be in armor stands in an interview.

"Oh, I know that guy. He use to be an arms fighter," Andy states.

MAKE IT LOUDER!" Maibe yells, still being chained up. Radcliffe actually presses the volume button for him.

Andy tries to remember who he is, "His name is like.. Uhh, Max Gas or something" Kaitlyn lets out a full on leap of laughter from that. Andy did not mean for it to be a joke, but glad that he made Ribbon Girl- or, Kaitlyn laugh.

The interviewer turns to the camera, "Today we have Max Brass-"

"That's it! Max Brass!" Andy blurts out.

"Shh" Byte puts his finger up to Andy's face.

The interview continues, ".. who has a special announcement-"

The big well built figure grabs the microphone, revealing his Extendable arms. "That is right! Max Brass, the five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time ARMS Grand Prix champion. Undefeated until the end of the sport itself!" He counts his fingers as he talks.

"I LIKE HIM" Maibe yells.

The interviewer snatches the microphone back from him, "Now, don't you have a special announcement-"

Max Brass grabs it back, "Yes Veronica, I do! As of now, I am re-opening the ARMS Grand Prix to anyone. This sport has been dormant like a volcano and it's about to burst back on to the scene baby! It's time to bring it back, full force. I am humbly funding it myself. Whoever thinks they can come win matches and beat me gets a prize of 500 grand! This is the rad return of the Grand Prix, Veronica"

Everyone in the waiting room looks on, in astonishment. The Grand Prix is back. After everything they have discussed to Maibe about how there is no fights any more is completely thrown out the window now.

Veronica the interviewer takes the microphone back, "Now, question: Mr. Brass-"

"I go by Mr. Brass" Max corrects her.

Veronica looks confused, "... Mr. Brass, this may seem like a out of the blue question, but does the sudden re-opening of the official ARMS Grand Prix have any correlation with the events that took place last night at the-"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Veronica," Max interrupts her, "When I saw what happened at Ribbon Girl's concert last night. I felt so much pity for the girl. But then, you know what I saw? I saw a little girl come in and save the day. I saw determination and passion last night. And that determination and passion is the reason I brought back the Grand Prix" Kaitlyn looks over and pulls on Minako's beanie and smiles at her. Minako looks very embarrassed but smiles back. Her father grabs her shoulders and shakes her around in excitement.

"So, do you want that anonymous hero to be part of the Grand Prix?" Veronica asks.

"Heck, I want them all to join! Ribbon Girl, that girl, that boy with the dumb voice, I want them all to come in for the Grand Prix and show off what those arms can really do! You know what? Go ahead and bring that big mummy-looking guy too, I wanna fight him the most!" Max Brass declares.

Everyone turns towards the interrogation room, "He has challenged me. I must go fight him now" Suddenly, all the straps and chains holding Maibe down break apart as he stands up cracking his knuckles. He exits the room, surprising everyone. Radcliffe pulls out her gun along side Kaitlyn's bodyguards.

"Hey! How did you do that? Do not take another step!" She yells.

"Those chains on me were nothing compared to my strength. I have just been playing along to get answers myself. I was about to break out and beat up that blue guy over there though if you all didn't come in there" Maibe explains, referring to Byte. Radcliffe keeps her gun up, but lowers it and shakes her head.

"Byte, keep an eye on him" She puts the gun down and goes back to the waiting room with the guards. Byte walks towards Maibe and takes him to the waiting room also. Maibe sees the small screen with Max Brass on it.

"He is very tiny. How does he possibly think he can stand up to me?!" Maibe grins.

Minako looks at him, "... It's not actual size"

".. Oh.." The interview continues with Max Brass as he explains that if anyone wants to sign up, they must go to Brass tower in the middle of the city to join. Everyone is allowed even though it is an ARMS Grand Prix, but if they believe they can do it, they can join. He then calls out the four who were at the concert to join and the news returns back to normal.

Minako looks towards Kaitlyn, and then at Andy. ".. Should we?" She asks them.

"I will" Maibe raises his hand. Now that he is out of his chains, The three kids can actually see how enormous he is. He towers over all three.

"No you are not! You are still a criminal and still have destroyed my beach!" Byte replies.

"BARQ!" The dog yells.

"D'oh, come on you annoying fool! I have already established I did nothing wrong-" he cuts himself off, "Well, actually I did... I did NOT have intention of do so. Is that not enough?" He is very good at not out right apologizing.

"Depends" Radcliffe states, "If you are the first undead being in history, I don't think you'll have any time for this Grand Prix thing"

"I already said I did not have the intention to do so" Maibe replies, as if he is talking to a parent.

Radcliffe thinks for a moment, and then looks at Byte. A lightbulb seems to have appeared in her head, "Alright. We will see" Even Maibe knew that statement usually means yes as he grins heavily.

"You can not be serious" Byte says to his human helper.

"BARQ!"

"I agree with Barq, but I will not repeat what he said do to the family-friendly environment" Byte says. Barq looks at him in anger for not translating.

"I said, we will see" Radcliffe clarifies.

"I'll do it" Andy says out of nowhere. Everyone turns to him.

"Really?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Thatta boy" Maibe smirks at Andy's participation.

"Yeah," Andy says, "I mean, I don't see why not. I have nothing better to do, and plus it is for 500,000 bucks. That's awesome dude!"

Minako looks up in the air as if she is thinking, "Well, usually, prizes for these things come in small packages over years-"

"It's still more than I'll ever get with a normal job" Andy jokes. Minako's father comes from behind and grabs his daughter's shoulders.

"You should do it sweetie"

Minako looks surprised, and kind of scared by what her father is saying, "What? You really mean it? But what about the Diner-"

"Honey, when I saw you on that television, I was the most nervous wreck I almost threw up," Her dad explains, "But after I saw you using your karate, fighting off the bad guy- no offense"

"None taken," Maibe answers, "Hehe.. Bad guy, I like it"

"You would" Byte mumbles.

Minako's father goes back to his daughter, "When I saw you out there Minako, I saw my little flower begin to blossom. I realized that I should've gave you more freedom than I have before. Honey, you are a star, and you must shine your light for all to see. Cause that light is beautiful"

"LIKE A PHARAOH!" Maibe excitingly interrupts. He seems to like doing that.

"Yes, yes, like a.. farrow? What?" Her father looks at the mummy, confused.

".. Ok, I will do it" Minako says. Her family cheers along side Maibe. Andy grins proudly with his hands on the back of his head. As everyone finishes cheering, Minako looks at Kaitlyn. "Are you going to?"

"I'm.. I'm not sure" Kaitlyn responds, "I'm not a fighter. A-And even though I'm on hiatus, I got to keep up with my tour and stuff... You know" She looks at the ground.

As she continues to mumble, large footsteps approach her. She sees that it is Maibe. "Don't do anything," Byte threatens, "I still have the tickle taser"

"Listen, Girlonteevee- or uhh, what was it?" Maibe asks.

"Kaitlyn"

"Kaitlyn, when you tried to attack me earlier today, I saw something in your eyes. I saw the fighting spirit of a warrior. I have only ever seen those eyes before back in my day, and those were from the top ranked fighters in the entire country of Egypt," Maibe tries to explain himself better, "What I'm saying is that it's not that you can not fight. I remember, you did a total on me at our first fight. But it is that you are not willing to find your fighting spirit. I know that if you find it, You'll be able to run circles around anyone"

Kaitlyn looks at Maibe, surprised by his speech, "Why do you care if I join or not?"

Maibe smirks, "Because I want to try my hand at that fighter inside you. Don't let me down" He clenches his fist in front of her, intimidating her a bit. He then lets out a hearty laugh like before.

Kaitlyn thinks for a moment and then looks back up at Maibe with a determined smile, "Ok, I'll do it"

* * *

 **Oooooh boy. I tried to put some emotion into this one. That's why I changed the tag from adventure to drama! But anyway, thank you so much for reading this! I have thought very hard about where I want this story to go, and I think this is an excellent starting place for it. Now, disclaimer: The next chapter will be something COMPLETELY different than the past three chapters. As in, we follow new characters! So look out for that for when it drops, or just follow and favorite this story to keep up with releases. Again, thank you so much, it means the world for you to read this. Please, leave a review of what you thought, or any recommendations or ideas you think would help. And if there is something a bit off to you, I do not mind to here it. I hope you all have a fantastic day! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Big Brothers and Little Sisters

**Howdy. First off, I would like to apologize about taking so long to get this chapter done. I took a weekend break from being on the internet, but then every chance I had to write this I had to go to some family party. Why does no one ever celebrate 4th of July on 4th of July anymore? Second, I just wanted to clarify that I am a dumb guy, and so when I wrote this I did not fully read into every single small detail of ARMS. What I'm trying to say is I may have messed up some of the lore. Even though this is a 'fan-fiction' I just wanted to say, yes, I know I did a stupid. But the thing is everything I have wrote so far is leading into a bigger story, I have not wrote a thing that is not working itself to a grander picture. So, thank you for reading, sorry for being dumb, here is the next chapter with new characters like I have promised!**

* * *

"Yo, where he at?" asks a tall, black individual sporting hair that is so flat on top you could stand on it. He wears a jacket with a snake symbol on it, the symbol for the local skateboarding group, the Naja Crew.

Another person walks towards him, a slightly smaller and rounder skateboarder- or as they call it, 'snakeboarder'- while texting on his phone, "It look like he gonna be a no-show" He also wears the Naja jacket.

"He always a no-show," The tall one states, "Man, if that jet gets here before he does, Imma go myself"

"And compete in that tournament?" The short one laughs.

"Yeah, man. I'd wipe the floor with those people" The tall one starts throwing punches, pretending he is actually hitting someone.

"Yo, you can't compete. You don't have none of them crazy long arms they got" The short one says.

The tall one steps back, "Hey, that Max dude said anyone can join, didn't he?" As he says that, a large wind blows on the two as a jet gently lands on the Moonbeam Airport tarmac.

The two members of the Naja Crew 'snake'boarders were waiting to say 'peace' to their friend who is leaving, but their friend has not showed up yet. The two stare at the private jet as it becomes stationary, "Yo," The short one says, "First one there gets a ride?"

"Let's go bro!" The tall one says. They both pull out their 'snake'boards- which are just normal skateboards with the snake symbol on it- and ride off, racing to the jet. It was neck to neck as they both pushed at the ground to propel them forward. As they got closer to the destination, a strange sound came from behind them. Before they knew it, a hand has grabbed one of each of their shoulders, preparing to use them as poles for a slingshot. The hands push the two backwards as a strange figure flies through the air and lands in front of them. They reel in their extendable arms as they stand up, revealing an oddly-shaped man.

He wore purple shaggy pants and a mask that covered up his face, leaving only his eyes to peer through, which had different color irises. His body was misshapen, his waist being very thin and flat but having broad shoulders, giving him to look of the head of a cobra. He wore a Naja crew symbol on his black sports-shirt with a 'snake'board attached to his back. "You really think I'd be late for this, bro?" A low Jamaican accent comes out of the mask.

The 'snake'boarders almost fall down from the push, but balance themselves and start to laugh, " _Maaaaan_ ," The tall one rolls over with his skateboard, "Where've you been then?"

"Meditatin'" The strange man says.

"You mean sleepin'" The short one corrects.

"Eh. Potato, potahto," The odd masked figure quickly moves their body around like a serpent, and ends up doing a handstand behind the two, "Now, was this a chit-chat or a race?"

He flips back up to his feet as he pulls out his skateboard and proceeds to take off like a rocket towards the large private jet. The two Naja crew members try to keep up, but he outruns them both by a long shot. The odd man pulls off a front-flip off the board, grabbing the 'snake'board in the process, and lands to the side of the jet. A small set of stairs come down from the side, revealing a butler with a bald head and a well trimmed moustache.

"Mr. Floyd, are you ready to go?" The butler questions. The figure slithers up the steps smoothly.

"Sure am bro!" He gives the butler his board and walks in. The interior of the jet is made of gold, with trophies in glass with a large flat screen television on the wall. The seats were also made of brass, "Dang! This is awesome!"

The two friends come up to the bottom of the stairs, "Good luck dude! Do it for the Naja Crew!" The tall one says as the other waves. The serpent-like figure goes to the door as the stairs come back up.

"Later my boys! Next time you'll see your man it will be on TV!" The stairs close, filling in the piece of the wall, now secluding the figure to the large, shiny room as the jet prepares for lift off.

"Max will be very happy to know you are on your way, Mr. Floyd" The butler says.

"Wicked. And you can call me by my stream name if ya' want" The odd figure states.

The butler looks puzzled, "Which is?"

"Kid Cobra" He cracks his neck and knuckles at the end of his arms, "It's party time"

The butler interrupts Kid Cobra's preparation for the Grand Prix as he hands him his drink, "Here is the frappuccino you requested"

"HECK YEAH!"

* * *

The scrapyard is a place like nowhere else. To some, it is just a smelly place where metal and such is thrown away, but to a small girl and her robot, it is landfill paradise. Dust from the dirt surrounds them as Julia Laymor scouts the hills of junk for anything valuable. "Look, grab that" She points to a metal piece shaped like a bowl. Her giant rusty yellow robot that is twice the size of her flings their spring arm towards the junk, grabbing the bowl with it's crane like arms, then tossing it into the opening on top of it.

"Ooh, check that out!" Julia runs over to the bottom of one of the hills, "It's shaped like a moustache!" She holds it up underneath her nose, making funny noises towards the robot, who stands idle.

Julia brings the moustache, "You're so lame, you know that?" She tosses the metal to the robot who catches it and dunks it into the opening, "Woohoo! 2 points!"  
The two continue to walk, the robot slowly following behind, trying to keep up with it's maker. Julia wipes her eyes, "Man, I barely got any sleep last night. What about you?"

The robot's headlights turn on and off, "Well, lucky you pal" Julia responds back. The night before was not the first time she has pulled an all-nighter, but it was for a different reason. After the live broadcast of the concert was flipped over to the news, she waited for any news on how Ribbon Girl was. Julia wrapped herself in a blanket and stared at the small television that night, the screen being the only illumination in the room. The hours felt as if they lasted forever, the news reporters repeating the same event over and over until new information could be heard. They could not identify the attacker, but they did find out that the strange boy with the blue hair's name was Andy Shurbak and the one who saved the day was Minako Sobawata. Time froze as Julia waited for confirmation that Ribbon Girl was safe.

A news anchor read new information given to her, "We have breaking news that Kaitlyn Pleat and Andy Shurbak, the victims of the attack, have fully recovered and are now under the care of the police, Tom?" She turns to her co-anchor.

"It's nothing short of a miracle that those kids are safe. Now, we have an interview with a eye-witness from the theatre. Veronica?" Tom says.

The camera switches to the interviewer, not fazed by the fact it was three in the morning, "Thanks Tom, I am here with... Can we have your name again?"

"Model T-1zR: Officer Byte. And this is my dog. He wears sunglasses" Byte appears on screen.

"Barq" Barq shakes his head.

"So, Officer Byte. Can you recall where you were when the incident happened?" Veronica asks.

"Well," Byte's eyes appear to change, as if he was rewinding footage, "I saw that no good Shurbak hoist himself up on stage, possibly going to go mug Ms. Pleat, not sure, when a giant fat man fell from the sky. I said, 'STOP EVIL DOER!' But when I almost reached him, giant hands blocked the way. And then I saw that beanie girl with the legit noodle arms I said, 'Here, let me boost you!' And I flung her over the hands and she stopped him. So I saved the day essentially"

"Barq"

"What are you talking about, that was all fact, I did not make anything up!" Byte starts to argue with Barq. As they news went on, Julia tried to sleep, but could not. Before she knew it, the sun came out, signifying that she had to start her daily digging through the dirt.

The robot grabbed pieces of metal Julia told it to until a loud mechanical noise came from far away. "Shoot! Hide!" Julia motions the robot to go away as she finds an old rusty car to go behind. The robotic armor machine jumps into a hill of metal, exposing the bottom of the machine in the air.

"What are you doing?!" Julia whispers, "Get you fat butt out of the air and-" As she spoke, giant wheels came by, carrying a large excavator, blocking the rising sun and shadowing the two. Julia ducked under the car as it passed. Luckily it did not see the robot sticking out of the hill. As soon as the excavator's noise trails off in the distance, Julia picks herself back up and pulls her bot out of the hill. It pops out, making an avalanche of junk land inside the opening.

"I guess that's one way to get some metal" Julia says as the robot tries to balance from the debris of metal that fell on top of it. Julia pops her head over the hill and sees the large machines doing construction, "Come on, let's get home" Julia motions the robot to follow her, which it does.

Back at the small fort, Julia closes the curtains at the 'front door' as the robot sits beside a desk. Julia grabs a chair made of scrap and takes the first piece of metal the robot has and examines it on the table. "Now, what could we do with this?" It is a long piece, as it coming from a girder, "Maybe a hammer? Or a ninja star! Or maybe I could sell this as an abstract piece called: 'Metal'" Julia tries to think some more, but is completely exhausted from last night.

"I don't know if I can do this girl," Julia says, referring to the robot, "Maybe in an hour.. or a day.. or month.." She begins to close her eyes and lay her head on the table in front of her.

"Does this make me lazy?" She asks as she dozes off.

"THAT IS RIGHT!" Julia springs up and then falls over backwards on her chair, creating a dust cloud as she hits the floor.

"WHO'S THERE?!" She quickly gets up looks at the curtains with fists replacing her hands. No one is there as Julia realizes it was just the small television. She forgot to turn it back off after she got up this morning. Intrigued, she looks at the screen, where she sees:

"Max Brass, the five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time ARMS Grand Prix champion. Undefeated until the end of the sport itself!"

Julia looks at the television in amazement, "MAX BRASS! WHAT? Come look, hurry!" She motion the robot to walk over. The robot gets up and slugs towards her but does not sit down. All it is programmed to do is walk and grab.

"Yes Veronica, I do!" Max refers to the interviewer he keeps on interrupting, "As of now, I am re-opening the ARMS Grand Prix to anyone. This sport has been dormant like a volcano and it's about to burst back on to the scene baby! It's time to bring it back, full force. I am humbly funding it myself. Whoever thinks they can come win matches and beat me gets a prize of 500 grand! This is the rad return of the Grand Prix, Veronica"

Julia jumps straight back, almost knocking down a tree made of scrap metal from her shelf. "DID YOU HEAR THAT?! THE GRAND PRIX! It's back! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!" She grabs one of the many tapes of the past tournaments she has beside the tree and hops around with her eyes closed and hands in the air. She bumps into the robot, startling her a bit, "Oh, sorry, I got a bit carried-" She stares up at the robot in silence. She takes a step away and thinks about what Max Brass just said.

".. Re-opening the ARMS Grand Prix to ANYONE" Julia looks back at the television, where her idol continues to speak to the interviewer. All sounds fades from Julia's head as she turns back to the machine, it's spring arms ready to follow any commands she tells them to.

She turns away, "This is stupid me, no way! No way in heck!" Julia usually censors herself. She stares at her curtains, the sun trying to crawl through the translucent maroon capes. This moment, the opportunity to become an ARMS fighter, has always been her dream. But that was all it was: A dream. Imagining it is amazing, but pulling it off is impossible. Maybe that is why so many people want to achieve their dreams.

Julia swings her foot around and walks away from the curtains back to her desk, "Let's get back to work, big girl" She says softly. The robot begins to walk over as the television continues playing.

"We have just received major news that Kaitlyn Pleat, Ribbon Girl, will enter the Max Brass ARMS Grand Prix announced earlier this morning!"

Julia flings open the curtains, holding one of the robot's giant crane hands, pulling it out of the garage, "WE'RE GOING. NOW!"

* * *

Everything is silent. The only noise that can be heard is the breath of oneself and the heartbeat that confirms you are still alive. This silence is normal when you are dealing with the art of the shinobi, otherwise known as ninjas.

Standing in the middle of a quiet two-story dojo stood an unmoving figure. His eyes were closed, listening. His hair was spray-painted midori, or green, to symbolize himself with nature. He is like a tree, unmoving and strong, but is silent in the wind. He is grounded like the earth, helping others grow while also growing with them. These are all the elements that show a powerful but wise leader, which is a perfect way to describe the man. He also wore a scarf to show that he is always with the wind.

With how silent it was in the dojo, as if it was frozen, any slight noise can power through. The soft bird chirp outside peering through the windows might as well have been heard through loud speakers. As the man focused, suddenly wood upstairs in the dojo creaked as a foot carefully tapped down. He opened his eyes as he dodged a shuriken that flies right by his head. It was time.

Shurikens flew at him from all directions, coming out of nowhere, some out of shadowed figures. The man in the middle moved around the oncoming ninja stars like he was at a dance recital, occasionally hitting a shuriken with his foot, slinging it into the wall. As the ninja stars came at rapid speeds, he realizes he can not dodge them anymore.. Or can he? In split second thinking, he puts his fists to the ground and shoots his extendable arms, launching him into the air. That was another aspect about this skillful leader: He had the gift of the arms, where instead of normal limbs he had chains with his hands at the end. All the ninja stars hit the ground underneath him as he dodges it all. He smiles in mid-air, outdoing the ones hidden in the shadows, but as he comes back down, he sees an unexpected visitor waiting for him.

"HI NAOTO!"

"AH!" The man tries to not land on top of Julia, who has appeared out of nowhere. He lands on his butt when he hits the ground as she laughs, "What? Did I scare you? I thought ya' didn't get scared"

"You did not scare me," Naoto replies as he gets back on to his feet, "It is just that we were all practicing, and I was not expecting an annoying little girl to show up"

"Practicing, huh?" Julia picks up one of the shurikens, "With these dull thingys?" Julia touches the point of the ninja star, or lack there of. All the stars were dulled at the points.

"Hey, those are top of the line shurikens, used to train in the art of ninjutsu. You would not dare hold it if it was real" Naoto explains.

"Man, I can make these out of paper," Julia smiles at Naoto, "Or metal" She laughs as Naoto rolls his eyes.

"Hey, who is that?" A voice says, hidden in the dojo walls. Julia looks around, confused.

"I'm his sister" Julia replies.

"No, she is not" Naoto corrects, "I am going to take a quick break. Reggie, you are up next" He points towards a shadow in the corner as Naoto begins to leave the dojo. A large number of voices begin to say 'see ya!' and 'bye Naoto!'.

"Uh, who is saying that? I can't see them" Julia asks Naoto.

"Of course you can not see them," Naoto smirks, "Their ninjas"

The two stepped out, staring at the campus grounds of Rasen Ninjutsu University, a college made for ninjas, by ninjas. The walkway leading away from the dojo was aligned with cherry blossom trees with the pink layers covering the branches hides the large college building beside them. Naoto walked silently through, with Julia following behind, skipping.

"So, what'cha doin' now?" Julia asks.

"Ignoring you" Naoto walks towards one of the trees.

"Well that is kind of hard to do" Julia smirks. Naoto sits down at the base of the tree as the young girl hops on to a sleek bench beside it. He pulls out his reading glasses and brings out a small blue book and let the printed words play out themselves in front of him, "So, what's that about?"

Naoto always reads books. It is usually the one thing he will discuss with Julia on a normal day, "The art of combat for a samurai. The way they made their armor is interesting"

Julia smiles at the armor part, "Can I read it once you're done, big brother?"

"If you quit calling me that" He pushes his center of his glasses back up to where it touches his nose, "I am pretty sure you are not here just to see what I am reading. What is it?"

"Weeeeeell, if you wanna know..." Julia has already planned this statement, "A little birdie flew by and told me some things, nothing major, just that-"

"Is this about that silly ARMS fighting thing you like?"

"YES!" Julia stands on the bench, excited. Naoto knew this topic would pop up as soon as he saw the announcement on television, "You're joining, right big bro?"

"Of course not," Naoto tells Julia straight up, "I am not going to waste my time with a little tournament far away from here"

Julia looks surprised, "B-But Naoto... you would be perfect for it! You would wipe the floor with those crooks!"

"I already mopped the dojo floor earlier today, I do not need to do it again with sweaty men in tights" He is reading his book during this conversation, "Besides, I can not let down my studying for this"

"Naoto. You know perfectly well that if you went and joined this thing, the school would totally let you go! Free publicity! Plus, you can win some good money to pay off those student loan things everyone complains about" Julia tries to justify him going.

"I have a hunch that this is just so you can get a free ride with me to go see the sport yourself" Naoto explains. He is exactly right.

"You know how much I love ARMS. Plus, I'd get to watch my big bro in the ring. It would be awesome!" Julia says.

"Can you not just ask your parents to take you?" Naoto asks.

Julia flinches for a moment, ".. They're busy. Please Naoto?" Julia tries her best to do puppy dog eyes.

"That is not going to work on me, you know. You used that little trick to scam me out of ice cream and a trip to the amusement park"

"Shoot..." She thinks for a moment on how to get Naoto's attention, "... Then how about a challenge?"

Naoto looks at her, questioning if he should even ask, "What challenge?"

Julia knows how to get his heart racing. Just make it a little game, "Let's play hide and seek. If I win you sign up in the ARMS Grand Prix and take me with you. If you win, I don't bring it up again. Deal?"

Naoto laughs, "Are you serious? Playing hide and seek? With me? Do you even know what the point of this school is?"

"I am totes serious. Deal?" Julia holds her hand out, waiting for a shake.

"Fine" Naoto grabs her small hand shakes it.

"Ok, I will hide first. Just try and find me!" Julia takes off as Naoto counts out loud with his eyes closed. She looks for a good place to hide, but the walkway is so naked the only real option is to hide behind a tree. But then she sees a bush, "Perfect" she whispers to herself.

The young girl hops into the bush and looks on as Naoto finishes counting in the distance. She giggles like an evil villain, "He'll never find me here-"

"Found you"

Julia shoots up from the bush, screaming. Naoto appears behind her, smiling, "How the flippin' heck did you do that?!"

"Julia, I have trained countless hours in advanced hearing. I can sense any movement of a person with sound only, and you were breathing loud. Also, you wearing a bright yellow shirt, not proficient in a game of hide and seek" Naoto explains.

"Well, it's my turn to find you now!" Julia points at his face, "I'll show you how fast I can find you. You'll blink and I'll be right there in front of you!"

"Sounds like a terrifying horror movie to me" Naoto smirks. As Julia covers her eyes with her hands and begins to count, Naoto shakes his head and smiles as he vanishes in a puff of smoke.

"READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" Julia finishes her counting and begins her hunt. She looks behind all the trees and all of the bushes to no luck. She checks under the benches and small rocks, not being able to find her friend, "Dang, where is he?" She then gets a 'brilliant' idea as she looks up at one of the cherry blossom trees. She smiles as she begins to climb it.

"Higher point of view," She lunges herself up a branch, "..I'll *pant* find him then! *pant*" She climbs the branches, struggling as the cherry blossoms blow into her face, some into her mouth that she has to spit back out. As she tries to reach for another branch, she slips and almost falls, but hugs the tree with all her might. Julia pushes herself up the tree as footsteps come towards her.

"Ok, do not hurt yourself, come on" Naoto tries to get Julia down safely.

"GOTCHA!" Julia hops off the tree, heading straight for Naoto. He catches her and puts her on the ground, "I found you!"

"What? No you did not. I came over to help because you were making a complete fool of yourself" He explains.

Julia leans on the tree and looks at her dirty fingernails, "Well, the game is called hide and seek, you know, where I am seeking. And I have seeked you and here you are, so I win technically"

"I hid myself behind a piece of wood to blend in with the exterior dojo wall, and used the sunlight to make an optical illusion so it appears as though I had no shadow and became part of the wall. You hid in a bush. I win" Naoto looks frustrated.

"Well, since we don't have no winner, I guess we need to play something else now" Julia sticks her tongue out.

"I do not have time for these shenanigans. I am going to go back and practice-"

"Wait!" Julia looks genuinely upset by this, making Naoto feel a bit apologetic, ".. Just, one more game. Please?"

Naoto shrugs, "Fine, what is it this time?" Julia's heartwarming smile full of determination appears once more, making the ninja feel happy.

"I challenge you to a DUAL! In the fight style of ARMS Grand Prix!" Julia yells.

"Keep it down, the entire campus can hear you" Naoto requests.

She sticks out her hand and yells even louder, "DO YOU ACCEPT?" Naoto looks annoyed but then looks at her hand.

"Sure, we can fight" He grabs her hand one more and shakes it, but then grabs the back of her shirt with his other hand and picks her up.

"Hey!" He stretches out his arm made of chain and places her on a far away bench.

"I win. Now, can we stop this?" Naoto asks as Julia runs back over to him.

"I want to see a fight, big bro!" Julia yells in anger.

Naoto looks at her as if she has said the weirdest thing he has ever heard, "I am not going to fight some little girl"

"Who said you were fighting me?" Julia smiles as if Naoto fell into her evil plan. She whistles and motions something off in the distance. The ninja becomes confused as a large clunking noise gets louder and louder behind them. Naoto turns around to see a giant yellow robot towering in front of him, with two long spring arms like he has. The robot makes loud intimidating sounds of gears and joints keeping it together.

Naoto looks uneasy, "Uh, Julia, what is this?"

"This is your opponent, big bro" Julia raises one eyebrow, very pleased with the reaction, "Meet Mechanica"

Mechanica lets out a large roar as Naoto steps back, assessing the situation, "You can not be serious"

"Hey, you shook on it," Julia explains, "Now, check this out!" She pulls out two small grey rectangular devices from out of her pocket and places one in both palms of her hands. "Where I move my hands, she moves her hands"

Julia slowly moves her right hand, Mechanica doing the same. Both her and Naoto look on, surprised. It was actually the first time the robot has worked in manual mode instead of automatic. "So, let's go Naoto! You scared?" She hops into the opening of Mechanica and sits down in a small chair.

Naoto looks in amazement, but then prepares in a fighting stance, "You did not scare me." He smiles.

"Alright then, 'READY', 'SET'.." Julia pretends to be an announcer, ".. 'GO!'" Both of Mechanica's hands shoot straight towards Naoto. He vanishes in a puff of smoke like before, causing both of the hands to hit the ground.

Julia quickly looks around for her opponent until a foot gently lands on top of the back of the robot, "HEY!" She tries to shoot out of the arms at Naoto before he can backflip off. Naoto sticks the landing and starts to punch the machine, barely leaving any dents on it.

"HIYA!" Julia yells as she presses a button on top of one of the controllers. A device begins to fire up on the back of Mechanica, and suddenly she is shot forward using a jetpack straight towards the ninja, fist sprung out in front like a superhero. Naoto sees this and lays flat on the ground, dodging her like a limbo contest. He kicks the robots torso and it tips over as the jetpacks continue, sending Mechanica flying straight towards the ground, grinding the back of it on the walkway.

"Come on, big girl!" Mechanica gets right side up and shoots off into the air with the jetpack. "Get me from up here- WOAH" A long chain almost hits the side of the robot as Naoto sends another fist straight at the body of Mechanica. The punch does not flinch Mechanica though, but instead the two massive claws grab on to the chain.

".. Oh n-" Before Naoto can finish, he is already in the air, being spun around by the robot by his arm. Mechanica lets go, sending the ninja flying on to the top of the dojo. Naoto quickly gets up, not acknowledging and injuries he just got. Julia flies her robot to the roof towards Naoto. As a claw shoots towards him, he vanishes.

The skillful college kid appears on another section of the roof. Mechanica tries to sling her claw again, but misses as a puff of smoke replaces where he was. He appears on the opposite side. "How do you do that big bro?" Julia asks inside the large robot.

"Practice" Naoto smirks as another claw tries to land on him. He continuously vanishes over and over, causing the claws to slam into the dojo.

"GAH!" Julia frustratingly shoots out the robot's fists with Naoto just non-existent every time a hit should land. In an act of desperation, she brings both claws above her head and slams them straight down to where Naoto is, who disappears right afterwards. "Stop doing that- Huh?" Julia notices that Mechanica's hands are stuck in the roof of the dojo. She tries to pull them out when the ninja appears behind her.

"Gotcha" Naoto playfully says as he grabs the robot from behind and spins her around, slamming the front beside him on to the wood of the roof. He then lets out an uppercut to the bot's torso, sending Mechanica into the air where Naoto swiftly sends out punch after punch on to the robot. He spins his chain arms around to make them twirl into each other and holds his hands together and pounds the robot downwards by force.

Julia has small minor whiplash as she hits the roof. Mechanica begins to smoke, "No! No! Not now!" She gets Mechanica to stand back up and face Naoto. "HAA!" Julia yells as she sends a fist towards Naoto. He vanishes like before, but when he reappears, the giant robot claw grabs around him and tosses him into the air. Then both claws shoot out and grab him, pulling Naoto in as the upper body of Mechanica spins, slinging the fists into the ninja's side. The last hit lands on Naoto's cheek, sending him flying across the roof and landing on his back.

"This is over. Sorry big bro!" Julia presses the button on her controller, making the jetpacks go off once more. The giant hunk of metal flies towards Naoto once more and prepares a final blow.

Naoto stands up, "Yes, it is" As Mechanica flies straight towards him, the ninja quickly holds his fist out last second, landing right in the middle of the robot. Naoto does not move as force of the punch and the power of inertia shoots both of Mechanica's spring arms straight off their attachments and fly off into a cherry blossom tree.

The robot gets back on it's two feet but begins to teeter backwards with electricity dangerously shooting out from where the arms originally attached to, "Mechanica! No!"

Mechanica began to shake violently as Naoto realized the situation, "JULIA!" He shoots out his chain arms and grabs Julia out of the machine towards him as Mechanica begins to malfunction. The upper body shoots off as the legs break into two and the insides fall out, turning the once impressive robot into a piece of rubble, with electricity and cut wires shooting out of it, "Julia, you ok? Julia?" Naoto looks over to see her eyes begin to tear up.

"I-I'm sorry big bro. I shouldn't have.. I shouldn't have.." She tries to hold back sobbing as Naoto looks at her.

"Calm down. It is ok," Naoto smiles, "That was 'awesome' as you would say.. Sorry about your robot"

"No, no it's fine. I can fix her right back up" Julia tries to calm down, "It's just that.. I lost"

"Oh, so that is why you are sad" Naoto rolls his eyes at her, but then sees she actually meant it, "Wait.. Were you wanting to compete in that ARMS thing? Is this what this is all about?"

Julia hesitates, ".. N-No, I.. I can't be one of you guys anyway"

"Because you do not have the arms?" Naoto asks. She nods 'yes', "Julia, what I just saw was a fighter, with or without the arms. If you wanted to compete in this tournament, you could win"

".. You really think so?" Julia asks.

"I really think so" Naoto replies.

Julia wipes away her last tear, "Yeah, well, it isn't like I can go anyway. I can't travel by myself. That's why I tried to butter you up to take me. If that didn't work then I was gonna pin you up against Mechanica because I thought she would win" Julia turns to the tree where the spring arms fell into, "That backfired"

Naoto thinks for a moment, ".. Fine, we will go"

"W-What?"

"Tomorrow. Have your little bot ready, we will join the Grand Prix" Naoto states.

Julia's eyes widen, "But, I lost"

"Hey, if we both enter, then we can have our rematch-" Before he can finish, Julia jumps and hugs Naoto around neck.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Naoto tries to pull her off but can not release her grip.

"YOU ARE CHOKING ME!"

* * *

The next day at dusk, Naoto waits at the staircase leading to the front of the college on Julia to get ready. He packed a small bag for the trip. As he has some free time, he decides to get some reading in before he hears Julia walking up. She has Mechanica strapped around her back.

"Ready!" Julia smiles. Mechanica was back to her original form, this time with an added strap below the jetpack to make the robot portable.

"Can you actually carry that? It looks somewhat heavy" Naoto asks. Julia appears to be struggling just to stand still with Mechanica on her back.

"It's fiiiiine- WOAH!" Julia about falls over but catches herself.

Naoto rolls his eyes, "Give me the bot"

The Sokudo Subway Station downtown has always had strange visitors, but seeing a ninja with bright green hair carrying a giant robot on his back was a first. Julia walks beside him holding Naoto's small bag. The two order their tickets and soon their train arrives.

Julia begins to hop around, "This is so exciting! We're actually going to do this! I never thought this would happen!"

Naoto nods his head as he sits Mechanica in a seat and then takes a seat himself in front of the robot beside one of the windows. Julia sits beside Naoto.

"Me and my big bro, out there on stage, kicking hineys and taking names! This is gonna be so much fun!" Julia continues her little rambling.

"Sure is" Naoto says unenthusiastically as he looks out the window. Julia sees he is not as excited about this as she is.

"Everything ok?" Julia asks Naoto.

"What? Yeah. I am fine" He looks at the little girl for reassurance.

Julia still is not convinced, "... Hey Naoto. Thanks," She smiles, "You didn't have to do this, ya' know"

"I know" Naoto replies, staring back out the window. The train begins the pursuit to the long journey to where you sign up for the Grand Prix: Brass Tower. Julia kept on telling Naoto all about the large building made by Max Brass, so it was now engraved inside his mind.

As the ride continues, surprisingly a hush of silence falls in the small corridor of the train, almost unheard of when Julia is around. Naoto looks at her to see the young girl about to fall asleep. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I had to fix her" Julia replies, looking at Mechanica in front of her. What Naoto did not know was that this was the second night in a row Julia did not obtain her full night's rest, making her especially tired today. She looks as though she is trying to keep herself, jerking her head forward when her eyelids would droop.

"You can go to sleep" Naoto tells her. As he says that, Julia leans in and props her head on his shoulder and almost instantly begins dreaming.

Naoto looks at the little girl sleeping on his shoulder for a moment. She was a strange person at first, but after a while, the two begin to share a strong bond with each other. The only way Naoto can describe it is as if they were brother and sister, which is ironic considering Julia's nickname he hates. The main reason Naoto has stuck with her for so long was in suspicion and curiosity of her own family, or lack there of. When Naoto brought up her parents, she always tried to dodge around it like a ninja would. He never met her parents before and has wanted to in the past, but Julia would never let them meet. He thought that if someone's fifteen year old daughter was going to hang out with a college kid, her parents should probably know. But the meeting has not took place yet. Naoto wonders if it ever will.

He then looks at the large robot sitting in front of him, which reminds him of where they are going. _What have I got myself into?_ Naoto wonders. He has knew Julia for a good amount of time now, but has never seen her bring up or work on this crazy feat of engineering. She made a working cyborg twice her size, and for what? To compete in the ARMS Grand Prix? That can not be the only reason for that gigantic beast. Whatever Julia uses it for, it definitely put up a fight earlier at the university. If she went out of her way to make a body with the extendable arms herself so she can compete, this shows Naoto how passionate to this sport she really is. He always thought she was just a big fan, not actually wanting to fight along with them. It is like when someone watches a sport, they love watching it but they have no plans to actually perform it. But Julia wants to perform and more with ARMS.

Naoto looks down at his arms. ARMS. A tournament made for special people who are different from others. Maybe that was one of the main attractions for Julia, knowing how special she can be. Naoto smirks at the thought, but continues looking at his chains that replaced his arms. These were the reason the two met in the first place.

* * *

Naoto, a year younger, searched around the aisles of the grocery store for food he can take back to the college. _I guess this would work_ , he thinks to himself as he grabs a pack of cheap noodle cans and places them in a small basket with some other useful stuff. Naoto goes to one of the cash registers, getting odd glances as he waits for his items to be purchased. Unlike most people with the stretchy arms, Naoto usually has them in full view, revealing his 'secret' to the world. He did not honestly care what others thought of him, if they thought of him as a freak or something, he just wanted his groceries already.

Outside the grocery store, a young girl named Julia is selling small molded metal pieces to people who pass her by, with a small table laid out in front of her, "Buy my stuff!" Was her main slogan she used a lot. Odd how the abrasiveness never really worked. As she continued to yell at people in cars who could not possibly get out and buy from her to come buy from her, Naoto steps out of the grocery store and walks in front of Julia's view.

"Hey you! Buy my stuff! I know there's something you'd like" Julia could be a good car salesman.

Naoto ignores the little girl and continues towards the college. A week later he goes back and walks in front of the same girl as he enters the store. "Buy my stuff!" She says routinely to Naoto. He goes in and buys the essentials, and walks out. Instead of going back to the university, he heads towards a small food joint across the street. He heads down the sidewalk to a pedestrian crossing as he waits for the red hand to disappear from the other side of the road.

"You there! Would you be interested in a SWEET wrench? It has plenty of uses, like whacking people!" Julia yells to Naoto, waving the wrench around. He does not pay any attention to her, barely being able to hear her anyway, "Come on man, I know you want it..." Julia's thoughts trail off as she sees the strange man does not have normal arms, but the extendable arms like the people on television do.

"Oh my gosh.." She whispers under her breath. She places the wrench down and starts bolting towards Naoto. The light changes before she can get there and the man walks down the crossing. Julia quickly follows behind, barely making it to the end when the sign changes back to the red hand, "Hey you! Slow down!" Julia tries to keep up with just Naoto's walking. Honestly he has not even noticed her yet.

Naoto enters the food joint with Julia a few steps behind him. Naoto goes and sits down at the bar. "Good morning Naoto" The bald bartender with a big moustache greets the regular customer.

"Morning" Naoto replies back. He then notices the small girl beside him, struggling to get on the high stool of the bar. She finally does and faces Naoto.

"Howdy! I'm Julia, and I'm the one who's been screaming at you the past week" She blurts out. She is not afraid to start a conversation with a complete stranger by any means.

Naoto raises his eyebrow, confused. ".. Excuse me?"

The bartender comes back, "So, what will ya' have Naoto- Oh, hi! I don't think we ever met" He sees small Julia, barely above the bar.

"I'm Julia. I'm one of your competitors across the street, ya' know, Julia's Junkstand?" She replies. She points out the window to her small table of knick-knacks across the street.

"Hey, so that's where I know you from," The bartender says, "You two know each other?"

"No" Naoto says, trying to not get into this conversation.

"We do now though!" Julia smiles.

As time goes by, Naoto does everything he can to ignore the little girl or make her leave, but she won't budge, "So, why is your hair green?" Is one of the many questions she had for Naoto. She never ran out.

".. It symbolizes nature" Naoto says under his breath, now pulling out a book, from his bag.

"Ah! So you a hippie then?" Julia continues her onslaught of questions, getting a response every once in a while. The whole process mentally drained Naoto as he tried to focus on his reading.

Julia then started on her own life, which gave Naoto time to breath and fully disregard her. "Well, I'm selling junk to fund my construction class at my school. Every one of those things on that table over there was handmade by yours truly!"

"Oh, really now?" Naoto reads his book.

"Mhm!" Julia goes back into her car salesman alter ego, "You should totally buy something. I'm sure you'd like to have- HEY!" Julia hops off her stool and heads for the door. Someone was stealing pieces of the unsupervised metal from off the table. The young girl swings the door open and runs across the street on the red hand, luckily avoiding any traffic.

"Naoto, what are you doing? You gonna go help her or not?" The bartender asks urgently. Naoto looks up from his book and out the window to see the big man in blue jeans running off with the metal.

"You put that down right now!" Julia yells, trying to reach the man. Before she knew it, the guy was off running, surprisingly fast for how big he was. Julia can't keep up as she sees half of her carved pieces of metal gone from the table, "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" A puff of smoke appears behind her. She jumps forward, unsure what it was, where she sees Naoto standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

Naoto shoots out one of his long chains towards the man, who was still running. The hand at the end of the chain grabs the back of his shirt, scaring the guy. Instantly, he is pulled all the way back to in front of Naoto, held up in the air. The big man looks terrified, "Put down the junk. Now." Naoto orders. The man drops the pieces of metal and Naoto tosses him back on the ground. The man stands back up and runs for the hills yelling.

Julia picks up her stuff and places it back on to the table. "Hey, thanks man. You didn't have to do that, ya' know"

"I know" Naoto replies, shaking his head at the guy, who is still running as if he left a horror house. He looks back at the little girl to see her smiling, with her big eyes shining back at him, which he will get use to over time.

After another week has passed, Naoto appears once again at the grocery store and heads into the food joint. Julia follows behind with all her metal in a paper bag. This is the routine for the next couple of weeks as the two spoke to each other. Well, it was more of Julia just talking to Naoto.

"Have you ever watched the ARMS Grand Prix? It's, like, one of my favorite things in the entire world! I wish they still did it.." Julia continued her rambling throughout the weeks about different topics. Naoto learned that Julia loved the Grand Prix and makes her stuff from a local scrapyard, and Julia learned that Naoto attends a college for ninjas and likes to read books in the middle of conversations.

"So, got any babes in there?" Julia jokes. When it gets late the two's conversation get weirder.

"What?"

"Like, any sweet honeys in that ninja school of yours?" Julia laughs.

Naoto tenses up, "I, uh, I am not looking for any relationship at the moment"

"Man, if I was in school I would totally have, like, five boyfriends by now" Julia says.

"I thought you were in school?"

".. College, I mean" Julia gives a lying smile towards Naoto, who does not question it anymore afterwards. During one particular conversation, Naoto lets out his own topic.

"Say, where are your parents at?" Naoto asks.

Julia is the one that tenses up now, "They're... They work all day, ya' know? They don't get back until.. late"

"Well, do they know you annoy the same man every week for a couple of hours?" Naoto asks.

"Totally" Julia laughs. The weeks go by as the two learn even more about each other. Julia loves ice cream and has a tendency to derail the conversation to any topic that immediately pops up in her strange head. Naoto is the leader of his 'ninja clan' or class at the university and is also part of an after school club that helps others. Julia sees it as chores.

One day, as Julia continues to sell her pieces of metal, Naoto shows up not on the usual day. He places a clipboard on the table. Julia's eyes light up, "Hey Naoto! What's up?"

"Well," He points a the clipboard, "I have to get in service hours for my club"

"You mean do those chores?" Julia asks.

"Yeah. So I thought that I can help you out with your little business. It is better than mowing the lawn" Naoto says.

Julia smiles. This is the first time someone offered any help, "Well, take a seat then" He pulls up one of the handmade chairs Julia has made and sits down beside the small table.

"As a new member of Julia's Junkstand, you will be given one item for free!" She grabs a piece of metal molded into the shape of a duck, "Here you go"

She gives Naoto the duck. "Gee, thanks" He says sarcastically. What he never told Julia is that the duck is still in his dorm, sitting on the counter beside his bed. Every time he looks at it, it reminds him of her.

Weekly visits began to turn into daily visits for the two as Naoto joined Julia in the art of yelling at strangers. "BUY OUR STUFF!" Julia changed the slogan to.

"Buy our stuff" Naoto would repeat, not as loud as Julia does. On a certain uneventful day, Julia gives Naoto a bit of a challenge.

"I want you to make something with those scraps over there" She points to a pile of untouched junk she brought that day for Naoto.

"What? That is impossible. I can not make anything with those" Naoto replies.

"That's the type of negativity we don't accept here at Julia's Junkyard," She grabs a handful of metal, "Come on, you can think of something" Julia hands Naoto some tools. Over the next few days, Naoto entertains himself with building as Julia brings in customers every so often.

It takes the college kid a few days, but he ends up finishing his work. He reveals to Julia small tree made of metal, with a swing attached to one of the branches. It was very detailed and stylish, "Wow, this is awesome Naoto!" Julia looks astounded. She has never built something quite like this.

"It could be better" Naoto replies, showing that everyone's worst critic is themselves.

"We can't just sell this," Julia says, "I want to keep it"

Naoto looks frustrated, "What? After how long it took me, and we are not even going to sell it?"

"It's to purtteh to sell Naoto" Julia says in a funny accent. Naoto shrugs and lets Julia take it. What Naoto does not know is that she still has the tree on her shelf in her garage. She admires it every day when looking for inspiration.

The next day, Julia brings in some odd pieces of metal to work, "NINJA STARS. COME GET SOME NINJA STARS!"

"WHAT?" Naoto grabs the pieces of metal, carved into the shape of ninja stars with really shrap edges, "Are you crazy? You can not sell shurikens!"

"Why not? I thought you being part of that ninja school would be down with this" Julia says.

"These are very dangerous weapons, you can not-"

"Yo, did you say ninja stars?" A college kid walks up to the stand.

"Sure did! Pay up if you want one. They've been greenlit by actual ninjas!" Julia replies.

"No they were not" Naoto brings up, being the only ninja here.

"I'll buy one! Come on guys, let's get some ninja stars!" A group of teenagers walk over and all buy the ninja stars.

"See? I knew people would like them" Julia laughs as Naoto places his hand in front of his eyes in annoyance.

As the days go by, Naoto sees that the metal Julia is bringing is no good for crafting. He is skilled at it by now, "Well, fine, if you want to find some better metal, you can do it yourself" Julia responds.

"Fine. I will. You get these from that scrapyard, right? I will go with you later today to find some" Naoto explains.

Julia looks scared for a moment, "OH! Uh, no, you don't have to come.. I-I was just toyin'"

"What is wrong?" Naoto asks.

"Nothing! Nothing.." Julia looks down, ".. Fine. We can go to the scrapyard, but you gotta stay close to me, got it?"

"Yes" Naoto wonders why Julia got so defensive all of the sudden about him going to the scrapyard. Later that day, the two make there way down to the junk paradise through a small hole cut out through the fence, "Is this even legal?"

"Duh. Of course..." Naoto was not sure if a 'not' was gonna end that sentence or not. Julia just stops talking herself, "Ok, try to find something good in here. I bet you can't. I'm the one with the keen junk eye"

"Ok then" Naoto looks through the hills of useless scrap, trying to find something useful to make out of them. It was harder than he thought. This is also the first time in a while that the little girl went scraplooking without her Mechanica to pick up the pieces, so she had to climb up the hills herself, making it a bit harder than before.

In the distance, Naoto sees a shiny piece of metal that looks like gold, "That can be something" He looks over at Julia, who is busy in her own world to notice him gone. She did tell me not to leave her side, but Naoto was sure that if he found a good piece, she would forgive him. He vanishes into a puff of smoke and reappears in front of the golden piece. From the corner of his eye he sees something maroon.

He turns over to find a bundle of maroon curtains blowing in the dry wind, covering a hidden opening, "What?" He asks himself. He look back at where Julia was to find she is nowhere in sight. He probably has time to investigate. He runs towards the curtains softly and opens them, revealing a strange sight: Hidden under piles of junk was a small fort, the walls handmade. Inside laid a desk with small carvings on them, a small television on the floor, a big pile of spray-painted yellow rubble in the corner- Naoto was not sure what that was suppose to be-, a blanket laying on the ground, and a shelf. On the shelf were VHS Tapes, one being labelled 'ARMS GRAND PRIX - 1981'.

But there were two items that caught Naoto's eyes the most. First, it was his tree he made a while back. It sat dormant on the shelf. _What was it doing here? What is even 'here'?_ Naoto then noticed a picture pinned to one of the walls. Not as a picture frame, but as a piece of paper with a tic-tac pushed through the top. Naoto looked at the picture. It was Julia, but younger than she is now. A skinny older man with glasses stood beside her, smiling at the camera. Behind them was none other than Max Brass. From context clues, it appears that the older man is Julia's father. _So, that is what he looks like_ , Naoto thought.

Before the ninja can examine more of the fort, a voice calls out from a far, "NAOTO!" Julia yells. Naoto exits the strange place through the curtains, grabs the golden piece, and heads back to Julia.

"Check out what I found" Naoto says, smiling. Julia runs over to him.

"I told you not to run away from me!" Julia looks angry.

"I saw this and I had to get it" He hands her the piece. It was very shiny, and could be used in the Junkstand. As Julia observed it, Naoto's smiled fades away as he thinks about what he saw just now. Julia notices him doing this.

"What is it?"

"Nothing" It is the only thing that Naoto can get out of his throat. The two head back to the stand before night falls, where they both departure to their homes. Naoto's being the Rasen Ninjutsu University and Julia's being the small dirty garage Naoto found.

Soon Naoto gains up all his service hours so he is no longer bound to Julia's will. But he visits her quite often just because he can. One night, he and Julia sit down on a bench outside the food joint, watching the cars go by and the buildings begin to light up through there windows. A tree shades the bench as the two finish off their food that Naoto bought.

"Well, it's pretty late. I should be gettin' back home" Julia says. She steps off the bench.

"Can I walk you home?" Naoto suddenly exclaims. He has been planning to say it all day. Julia stops in her tracks.

"Uh, no, it's fine. I'm a big girl. I can walk home in the dark" Julia tries to wave off Naoto from following her.

"You sure? Because I would not mind-"

"I'm sure" Julia interrupts. That was the nail in the coffin for Naoto's plan to see just where this girl lives, "Geez, you're acting like a big brother or something"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted someone to walk you back. That is all" Naoto was lying.

"It's all good.. Big brother. See ya'" Julia skips down the sidewalk and disappears into the night.

Naoto spins back around as Julia leaves his sight and stares off into the distance. Then he turns his head again and he is looking out the window, a year later from when they meet, heading to the ARMS Grand Prix with Julia asleep on his shoulder. Naoto lets out a deep breath as he pulls his book out, almost done with it. The book was about samurai armor, which causes him to look up at Mechanica. Julia made her own samurai armor it seems.

As Naoto finishes the book, Julia wakes up, still leaning on his shoulder, "Hey, big bro. Can I read that now?" She asks, still half asleep.

"Sure" He hands her the blue book and she puts it beside her. She falls back asleep. Naoto sees the moon shine down on them through the train's window and decides to close his eyes too, for tomorrow will chance both of their lives, might as well get a good sleep in before it does.

* * *

One drop. One drop is all it take to make a stable chemical combination into an explosive bomb. That is what the two scientists deal with every single day in the lab, but they actually want to place that drop in and more.

The elevator creaked down as the older scientist continues his work. The metal door slugged open, revealing the younger scientist. "Did you hear about Max Brass bringing back the tournament?"

"Of course I have!" The older scientist focuses on the chemicals he was mixing, "It's all that I have had in my mind since they announced it. With this, we will be able to study arms fighters from around the world!"

The other scientist looks into the window, blurry from all the gas inside, "Do... Do you think we should put 'it' in the tournament? We could win 500 grand"

The older scientist starts to think about it and slowly rises up, straightening his back. He was very short with glasses round as his stomach. "I believe it is time to share our creation with the world"

"And God help the world when we do. Come on, let's get it out of there and to the tower" The younger scientist states. The fat old one looks at calculations on some of the rust giant computers on the walls, "Is it stable?"

"Yes. But not for long. If we can get it out of the gas right now, we should be fine" The older scientist takes hold of a lever on the wall as the younger one grabs an empty pickle jar and stands in front of a suction-tight door. "You ready?"

The younger scientist puts on a gas mask, "Ready" The old man pulls the lever down, causing the electricity to go off and on and the locked door to fling open. Other noises clank around the walls of the lab, causing terrified shrieks from inside the other room. The young scientist opens the pickle jar and walks into the room. He walks back out with the pickle jar filled with green ooze.

The lever is pulled back up, bringing everything back to it's original order. The door behind the young scientist slams shut. "Now," the older scientist fixes his glasses, "Let's g-.. let's ride to the tower"

The green ooze inside the pickle jar begins to bubble as noises can be heard inside the ooze. One drop. One drop is all it takes to make a stable chemical combination into an explosive bomb.

* * *

 **Oooooooh nelly. That sure was a lot. I guess this is my reward to those who were patient with me, with this being my longest chapter yet. Thank you guys so much for reading! I will try to have the next chapter up faster than this one took me. If you liked it, please leave a review with a follow and favorite. I will see you next time on ARMS: THE RAD RETURN OF THE GRAND PRIX. Still can not believe I made that the name, haha.**


	5. The Shining Tower

**Howdy. Not much to say for this little bumper, but I did make an update to the first chapter. You do not have to read it, all I did was add a brand new character to Max's fight and fixed some grammar. Seriously, why did you guys continue reading this after that first horrible chapter? Haha. Anyway, on to the next part of our story!**

* * *

It separates the people who stand out and the people who fit in. Some people choose to run away from it, but they always stay to see where it lands. There is also some who embrace it, spending their entire lives trying to achieve it's glory. This, of course, is the spotlight.

The audience's chatter dies down as the light's dim, filling the darkness with anticipation. Crew workers point their cameras to a large stage. The spotlight, the one that chooses who is noticed, shines it's light at the grand velvet drape, which conceals the surprise inside.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mesdames et Messieurs," A person with a deep French accent greets the audience over the microphone, "Please, give a warm welcome to France's little sweetheart: TWINTELLE!" The drape rises into the air, revealing a large colorful stage, consisting of a jazz band, each one having the same fedora. Handsome men in tuxedos surround the stage as well, and right in the middle, in the spotlight, is a dark-skinned 6-year old French icon. The most notable thing about her however is her long silver pigtails, which go all the way down to her knees.

The crowd cheers as the band plays a swinging tune, causing the people on stage to start dancing in a routine fashion, putting Twintelle front and center. She joins with them, leading the pack through small cute dance numbers. Suddenly, as it continues, one of the male dancers appears to slip on one of Twintelle's long locks and falls to the floor.

Twintelle turns to look at the fallen actor, but in return swings her big pigtails as if they were flails, smacking two more dancers to the stage. Twintelle smiles as she begins to spin around, causing all the men to fall over, one doing a backflip in the process. She comes to a halt as one dancer is left beside her. Suddenly, like it was a amazing parlor trick, Twintelle's pigtail rises, forms a hand, and pokes the dancer, causing him to fall on the floor. She high fives her pigtail as the crowd cheers, astounded by the magic of Twintelle's hair they have been waiting to see.

All the dancers get back up enthusiastically as a piano is rolled on to the stage. Twintelle walks over to the keys, but instead of sitting down, she plans another way of playing. The child spins around and closes her eyes, facing away from the piano. Her pigtails begin to rise as they did before and close in on the piano keys. The locks act like they are cracking their knuckles before playing, which the sound effect is made by Twintelle, making the audience laugh. The silver pigtails begin to play the piano as a master pianist would, getting faster and faster hitting all the right notes. The crowd cheers, clapping their hands together to the beat. When the locks finish the song, Twintelle turns and runs to the front of the piano, and gives the biggest smile to the camera as she hops on top of it. An applause rewards her as someone in the front row throws a rose up to her. She catches it with one of her locks and holds it up in the air.

That image- The small child sitting on the piano, having a grin reaching from one ear to the other, a rose raised up with her pigtails- is now the logo of one of the biggest French movie companies 20 years later: Twintelle Productions. There is some who embrace the spotlight, spending their entire lives trying to achieve it's glory. And Twintelle has achieved it and still holds on to it after all these years.

The broadcast of the first show Twintelle ever did outside of France plays on the flat screen television, looking horribly outdated compared to the high-definition we have now. The audio of the show is drowned out by the gossiping of the women in the backstage spa.

"Arnie, a cup of tea is not in my hand yet" A familiar face says as she gets pampered. She is laying down in a leaned chair with nothing but a red bath robe on, getting a pedicure for her toes by a trained professional. Her hair is also being shampooed by three different women, who are the minimum needed to clean the long silver locks that have attached on to the celebrities head. Instead of a sink to wash her pigtails, they use a bath tub.

A man with a turtleneck and way to tight pants rushes over, "Sorry, Ms. Aubertin" He carefully places the tea in her hand, with her eyes being covered by cucumber slices.

The show peeks into the older Twintelle's ears over the women fixing her hair's chat. "Ugh," She shrugs, "Can someone please turn that off? I was so exasperating to listen to back then"

"Oh, shucks Ms. Aubertin," One of the women fixing her hair in the bath tub says, "You were 'France's little sweetheart' back in those days"

Twintelle smirks, "More like, 'France's little pain in the-" A knock on the door interrupts her as a large bulky man with sunglasses enters.

"Ms. Aubertin, a-" All the women start running towards him angrily.

"Get out! Get out! Have you no manners!" The women shoo the man back into the hallway, one smacking him with a pillow.

"All I had to say was-" The pillow smacks across his face once more.

Twintelle shakes her head, "What is it? This better be good"

The crazy spa women finally let him talk, "Uh, Ms. Aubertin, you have a visitor at the front gate. They have a limo"

"Ooooh, is it a date?" Arnie says, standing in the corner of the room.

"Arnie, you already gave me cold tea. Don't give me another reason to publicly humiliate you.." Twintelle takes off one of the cucumbers, ".. Like last time"

Arnie's eyes widen as he quickly turns around and goes back to work, whistling. "Well," one of the women ask, "Do you know who it is?"

"Of course. I know everybody" Twintelle smiles as she takes off the other cucumber slice.

She enters her own room and changes into clothes that show off her curvy, but very tall figure. She wears a black undershirt with a small white denim jacket in front of it and waist high leggings that she has to zip up in the back. She slides into high heels as her long silver pigtails shake the water off like a dog would. Twintelle places bright red lipstick and rubs the gel on her lips. Everyone has a standard on how they want to look, and for her standard it is to be perfect every day.

The walk from the studio's spa to the front gate is quite short, but filled with big movie sets and people with costumes and headphones on. Everyone waves excitedly as she struts by. She waves back with her pigtail as her hands are filled with the cup of tea and the small plate underneath.

The large entrance sign that reads 'TWINTELLE PRODUCTIONS STUDIO' hovers above her, accompanied by the logo of her on the piano at a young age. Twintelle walks up to a golden limo at the gate. It bounces the light rays back up into the sun as she walks to the very end of the long brass car, where a window slowly lowers down.

She bends over to look inside the limo. There is no light except the bright neon yellow lights on the ceiling. "Why, hello there Maxy. I had a feeling I was gonna see you today"

"What gave it away?" A low manly voice comes from inside the limo.

"Well, after that absurd stunt you pulled on TV, I knew you just had to get me involved," Twintelle turns and smiles at the rest of the limo, "And the golden car didn't help your secrecy either"

A large arm springs over to the limo's door, opening it in front of Twintelle, "Listen," The famous ARMS champion says, "I have a.. proposition for you"

"Ooh, I love it when you use big words. Not like you actually know what they mean" Twintelle lets out a small laugh.

"Just get in" He orders as Twintelle invites herself into the golden limo. The windows rolls back up as the wheels turn and leave the studio.

* * *

The Fils-Aime Park was a nice calm land to bring your children for the playground or bring your friends to play some basketball. It was also a good place to hide from the public.

Andy jogs along the path made of brick that circles the park, covering his face- or, hair at least- with his grey hoodie. After the events of the past few days, He has received way more attention than was called for. The news crew were already at the college when he was finally released from police's care. They would run over to him, asking him questions about the concert. Every where he turned to afterwards has had a news member or someone saying, "Hey, it's that guy!" And darting towards him. Andy is not the biggest fan of it.

The park is the only place he could think of to escape. No one wanted to go up and talk to some guy jogging around-  
"ANDY!"

Andy stands corrected, "Ah, frick," He mumbles as a hidden figure sees him from off in the distance. They, of course, start running to him, "I don't have time for this, man" Andy turns around and starts to fast walk back to where he came from. He turns his head slightly to see the small figure better: They have a bandana covering there mouth and sunglasses protecting there eyes. The rest of their body was shadowed underneath clothing, like a hat, large jacket, and even gloves. Andy realizes he might be being chased by a mugger.

Andy starts to book it on the path, "GET BACK HERE, BOY!" A high pitched voice says, trying to be intimidating. He does not register it as he continues running, with the person following right behind him. He turns off the brick path and heads for the playground.

He dodges all the little kids running around, stumbling a bit, causing his hoodie to fall from his head. A kid notices him, "Look Mommy! It's that blue man!" Andy rolls his eyes, but then sees the mugger getting closer. He shoots out one of his arms and grabs hold to the top of one of the slides. He flies over to the slide and stands there for a moment. The mugger then shoots out there own spring arm and holds the top of the slide.

"What?!" Andy questions, surprised by the other person with the arms, but then focuses as the mugger comes closer to him. He hops off the side of the slide and runs for the building holding the basketball gym.

The mugger goes down the slide, "WEEEeeee" A voice says from inside the bandana. They get back up and continues the chase.

The gym floors sling open as Andy runs to the basketball court. Plenty of people his age are playing, and Andy runs right through them, "Dude, what you doing- Hey, you're that guy!" One player says.

"NOT NOW!" Andy yells as he runs across the gym. The mugger follows behind, but then stops as they see a basketball. They grab one and shoot into the basket, making it in.

"Booya!" The mugger says as they begin there run again, leaving the players a bit confused. Andy sees the exit of the gym and opens it back into the outside world. He tries to slam the door but the mugger's hand springs out and catches it right before it can latch shut. The mugger then stands face to face with Andy. He quickly looks around for an escape route, but then looks up to see the roof. He extends both of his arms and climbs to the roof before the mugger can grab him.

Now standing on the roof of the gym, he watches as the mugger does the exact same thing, but instead landing with a front-flip, being a bit cooler than he is. The person begins to slowly walk towards Andy menacingly, "Your time is up, boy. I only got one thing to say now" The voice declares. The voice sounds like a bad redneck accent that is very high pitched.

"Which is?" Andy asks, preparing to fight the mugger. Two hands come from behind him and grab him by the stomach.

"Gotcha" Another person softly says.

"AHHHH!" Andy yells girlishly, causing the mugger to burst out in laughter. Andy tries to break free as he turns his head and sees Minako holding on to him. The mugger walks over, still laughing, as they lower there bandana and takes off the hat and sunglasses. "WHAT? RIBBON GIR- KAITLYN?"

"Hah, we got you good, didn't we?" Kaitlyn laughs as Minako lets go of Andy.

"You're lucky I didn't start clobbering you two. I was about to" Andy says, trying to comprehend the situation. Mostly he is trying to figure out where Minako came from.

"Oh, poo" Kaitlyn giggles.

"How did you find me, anyway?" Andy asks.

"Well, Min Min and I was hanging out here for a little bit when we saw a lonely hobo run by" Kaitlyn smiles at Andy, "Then we realized that was you! So we decided to scare ya'"

Andy turns to Kaitlyn, "Haha, very funny"

Kaitlyn points to Minako, "It was actually Min Min's idea" Andy looks at Minako, who smiles and waves back, "So, what are you up to today Andy-man?"

"Maybe we should get off the roof first" Andy replies. Kaitlyn looks around.

"Oh, right" The three hop down and chat to each other as they walk on the brick path, both standing beside him on different sides, "So, what's up?"

"Trying to avoid these news peeps, man," Andy replies, "They're literally everywhere. I dunno how you deal with them"

"I don't like it either honestly. That's why I always dress up. I'm the master of disguise!" Kaitlyn says enthusiastically.

"Oh really?" Andy plays along.

"No, she really is" Minako speaks up, "Her closet is full of clothes. She even has boy's clothes. It's creepy"

"Ya' never know what you're gonna need," Kaitlyn winks, "Say, Andy, have you signed up for the tournament shindig yet?"

"Not yet" Andy says. He stares off at the trees surrounding the brick path.

".. You're still joining, right?" Kaitlyn asks.

"What?" Andy looks back at her, "Oh, yeah. I'm gonna join. Just haven't had the chance to"

"WELL TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY!" Kaitlyn yells out of nowhere. Andy jumps back, almost knocking Minako over.

"Sorry!" Andy says to her.

"I'm use to it" Minako replies, smiling at the two.

"What was that? HUAH!" Kaitlyn says as she lunges herself at Minako, trying to knock her over. She pushes Kaitlyn off and tries to knock her down. Andy compares the two to puppies fighting each other, which makes him laugh a bit.

"Why are you two so hyper? Dang" The two ignore Andy's comment. The reason they are excited though is because this is the first day they got to truly hang out and be there old selves with each other. They just have Andy to watch as a stand by for it.

"But anyway," Kaitlyn is still picking on Minako, "Min Min and I will be going to the Brass Tower today to sign up. You should join us"

Andy thinks about this. Could be a trap, would not put it passed Kaitlyn. She did dress up like a robber to scare him just a while ago, ".. Alright. Yeah. That would be fun"

"Yeah, it will be!" Kaitlyn says happily, "Oh! But before we go, we have to stop by somewhere"

"Where?" Andy asks.

"You'll see" Kaitlyn smiles as they continue down the path. Soon, they see a couple of black and orange birds blocking their way, "Look at the birdies! They're so fat! I want one!"

The biggest bird continues to eat every bread crumb from the path, inhaling them fully, "Hey, that one acts like my uncle" Andy says.

"Or Min Min" Kaitlyn laughs as Minako pushes her friend's arm, trying to knock her over.

* * *

"Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!" Byte yells through a megaphone, sitting in a lounge chair. Byte is also on a lounge chair, "Come on, do you want to get this done?" The robot is sitting in the ruins of the Miyamoto Silver Theatre stage, where Maibe is holding a broom, cleaning up the rubble.

"I can get done faster if you stop YELLING AT ME YOU ANNOYING FOOL!" Maibe yells.

"Not going to happen. STROKE! STROKE! STROKE!" Byte orders and Maibe growls and continues to sweep the floor. The entire Buster Beach has been closed down since the incident. The only people to be on the beach during that time were police officers investigating the attack.

Now there is only four people on the beach: Maibe, who is cleaning up the theatre, Byte and Barq, who are 'supervising' him, and Officer Radcliffe, who went off to the burger shack to grab a bite. She leaves with some food and walks back to the two, Barq now joining in on the chant.

"BARQ! BARQ! BARQ!" Barq orders.

Radcliffe hops on stage, "So, how's he coming along?"

"He is progressing quickly," Byte says, "But not quickly enough to join the ARMS Grand Prix"

"Hm. Shame" Radcliffe smiles as Maibe turns back to face them.

He stomps his foot on the ground, "I SHALL FINISH THIS MEASLY TASK AS IF I AM KHEPRI PUSHING THE SUN, YOU FILTHY MERCHANTS!"

Radcliffe is not intimidated at all, "Well, you best hurry up then if you want to join that tournament"

".. With this stick with ugly hair," Maibe holds the broom in the air, "I will make everyone wish they could clean like I can! HUAGH!" He begins to furiously swipe the broom back and forth, faster than he was before.

The obligation was simple: Maibe, with no pay, has to make the theatre look brand new in order to join the Grand Prix and to not get sued. But then again suing him for everything he has would not solve the situation, since he has nothing in the first place. Although Radcliffe will not fully believe he is a true mummy from a time of thousand of years ago, she does treat him as such. Byte still thinks he will vanish.

At the entrance of Buster Beach, a lengthy tour bus stops and five figures come out: Kaitlyn, Minako, Andy, and Kaitlyn's two bodyguards. The reason why the bodyguards were not with her at the park was because she told them to wait for her on a bench, since they were going to try to scare Andy. Eventually the three came back to the bodyguards.

"So, what are we doing here?" Andy asks, putting his hands on the back of his head, stretching.

"Officer Radcliffe wants us to inform her of when we go to the tournament," Kaitlyn explains, "So, we're gonna do it in person" As she says that, she goes and knocks over some caution tape at the front entrance and continues walking.

Andy looks confused, "Is that legal?"

"Probably not" Kaitlyn smirks. The five walk across the beach, where Andy sees the volleyball net.

"Heh," Andy gets the attention of the girls, "On the day of the concert, I was playing right there and when I went to spike the ball, I landed on the net and the whole thing kaploomed on to the sand!"

".. 'Kaploomed'?" Kaitlyn asks.

".. What? It did kaploom!" Andy states.

"Do you just make up your own words?" Kaitlyn says, raising an eyebrow.

Andy looks back at the net, "Why, yes I do! If it fits the conversation, that is. That net went 'kaploom'. You two scared the 'beheevers' out of me. Ya' know"  
"BEHEEVERS?!" Kaitlyn giggles. Minako also does, keeping silent behind them.

They enter the theatre, where they catch the attention of Radcliffe. Byte has not noticed them as he is yelling 'stroke' through the megaphone. "Hey! What are you guys doing here? You know you shouldn't be here" Radcliffe walks over to the entrance.

"That hasn't stopped me before" Kaitlyn smiles. It seems to be contagious for Radcliffe, "So, we just wanted to come by and tell you we are on our way to the tower to sign up for the Grand Prix"

"WHAT?" Maibe yells from the other side of the theatre.

"You hear that? You better hurry if you want to sign up with your friends over here!" Radcliffe tells Maibe.

"I believe you should stop standing there and continue to STROKE! STROKE! STROKE!" Byte says. Maibe rolls his eyes at the robot as he goes back to sweeping the floor excessively.

"How long has he been at it?" Andy asks.

"Since we let him out of the station" Radcliffe replies. Kaitlyn looks at her, surprised.

"So almost for two days?" Kaitlyn questions Radcliffe.

"Yep! Even through the night. Luckily Byte doesn't need to sleep, so he could watch him the entire time," Radcliffe whispers to the group so Maibe will not here, "He is actually really close to being done. It's crazy! I don't want him to know that though"

"Why not?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Because he works faster if you push him," Radcliffe brings her voice back up, "Come on, big guy, is that all you got?"

"This floor has not seen my true power yet! GAH!" Maibe goes even faster, not breaking a sweat.

Radcliffe turns back to the group, "Well, I guess you three should be heading towards the tower. We will be here until he gets finished"

"Alright, Officer Radcliffe. See ya' later" Kaitlyn replies.

"Bye!" Byte yells through the megaphone, "Now, let us sing a little ditty: 99 bottles of petroleum on the wall, 99 bottles of petroleum! Take one down and pass it around-"

"Barq-barq barq barq barq barq barq barq barq BARQ!"

"I sincerely hate both of you" Maibe mumbles under his breath.

"That's the point!" Byte says, "Now, sing along: 98 bottles.. "

* * *

The Brass Tower. One of the most brilliant and most expensive skyscrapers ever built. Now, one might think the building is made out of brass, but actually brass is a bad structural material for such skyscrapers, so it is made of steel. It is painted golden though.

The tower looms above the large metropolis, shining back at the sun through it's shiny outer walls. The owner, Max Brass, is not just some worn out ARMS Fighter. He is an entrepreneur and a superstar. He has starred in many films with big names such as Durand P. Vike, Vctor Honderous, Caleb Holland, Chevette Aubertin, and many more. He is also an inventor, creating multi-million dollar businesses of items that appear in small groceries stores. He even produces a hefty amount of brass, which has made him a fortune with selling it off. He started out as an ARMS Grand Prix winner and became one of the biggest stars of the decade.

Naoto looks at the tower in the distance as he carries the large yellow armored suit on his back, walking down a lengthy sidewalk. He looks beside him to see Julia wearing giant pink glasses with feathers on the side they bought at a grocery store.

"Those glasses look stupid" Naoto says upfront.

"Well, no one is admiring you for that hair.." Julia silently mumbles, twiddling with the handle of Naoto's bag.

"What was that?" He asks.

"Nothing!" Julia says loudly, giving a big smile to the person beside her. He shakes his head and looks on at the tower. Julia does the same, taking deep breaths as they walk, "Max Brass is in there, Naoto. Are we sure about this?"

"What? Do not tell me you, out of all people, are getting shy" Naoto smiles.

"Big bro! It's MAX. FRICKIN. BRASS. If I mess this up, Imma looks like an idiot in front of him"

"Well," Naoto looks for an answer, "I actually doubt we will meet him today. He is a busy man, Julia-"

Suddenly, a tour bus flies by, scaring Julia. She hops to Naoto, who in return almost falls over due to the robot latched on to his back. Julia watches as the tour bus heads straight to the Brass Tower.

"Hm. Do you know who that would be?" Naoto asks Julia, who is up against him.

"Uh, not sure actually" Julia steps forward and tries to see what is happening off in the distance.

Inside the back of the tour bus, Kaitlyn is playing with Minako's hair, getting ready to enter the ARMS Grand Prix. As Kaitlyn hums to herself as Minako looks in the mirror, someone swings the door open to her room, "Mrs. Pleat?" A raspy high pitched voice coming from Dave once again yells. Both Minako and Kailtyn shoot out there arms and close the door.

"Dave!" They both say at the same time. Andy watches from behind Dave.

"That girl! Ugh!" Dave stomps away as Andy knocks on the door next.

"Yes, Dave?" Kaitlyn shrugs.

"We're at the tower you two" Andy's voice comes as a surprise to Kaitlyn.

She smiles but then looks out the window, "Oh, shoot! We are?!" Kaitlyn grabs Minako's hand and opens the door. "I didn't even realize. So, what do you think of Min Min's hair?"

Kaitlyn pushes Minako out to the front, revealing her short blonde hair now in a curly bob hairstyle, which was very stylish in Kaitlyn's eyes.

"Looks pretty good, actually" Andy says. Honestly, he did not even know Minako's hair was blonde. He never really paid attention to her hair that much.

Minako blushes, ".. Can I have my beanie now?" She asks Kaitlyn.

"What? No way!" She continues to push Minako to the front door of the bus, "Now, to the tower!"

"Greeeeeaaaaaat" Minako says, obviously not comfortable not having her beanie.

The three, including the bodyguards step off the bus and walk to the door. Julia watches from the distance, "Wait, isn't that the blue hair guy from the concert?" She states to Naoto.

"Who?" Naoto asks. He does not really follow the news.

"So that means.." Julia sees Ribbon Girl, "... NOPE!" She turns around and starts walking away from the tower.

"Where are you going?" Naoto asks.

"Naoto, that is RIBBON GIRL"

"Oh, that is her?" Naoto watches as the girl in question is pushing another girl with fashionable hair into the tower, "How come you do not want to meet her?"

"I-It's just.. It's just.."

Naoto begins to job down to the tower, "Hey! You! Ribbon Girl!" He tries to wave to the girl in the distance.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Julia sprints down the sidewalk to try to tackle Naoto.

Kaitlyn does not hear the distant voice and walks inside Brass Tower with her friend and Andy, which she basically considers as her friend now. The bodyguards follow behind as they are met with a large lobby. Knowing the owner, it is not surprising that the inside of the lobby has yellow walls, a red front desk with brass ornaments on it, and velvet seats for the waiting room. Kaitlyn walks up to the girl at the front desk.

"Hi!" Kaitlyn opens up with. The old lady looks on at a newspaper, unamused.

"We're sorry, little lady, but Mr. Brass is very busy today and can't schedule appointments at the moment"

"Oh, we're here to sign up for the Grand Prix!" Kaitlyn replies. The old lady finally looks at the visitors, where she sees the famous Ribbon Girl. Her eyes widen as she presses a button on a nearby phone, which is golden of course.

"Sir, we have some visitors who would like to join the Grand Prix" The old lady continues to stare at Ribbon Girl, making Kaitlyn a bit uneasy.

"Well, just give them the sign up sheet then!" A male voice comes from the phone.

".. Sir, it's Ribbon Girl" As soon as she says that, the other end hangs up, ".. Sir? Sir?"

A dinging noise comes from the end of the hallway to there left. Two doors slide open, revealing an elevator with Max Brass inside. "Howdy!" He yells as he walks into the lobby. "Well, look who it is: RIBBON GIRL! I'm so happy to finally have met you" He holds out his hand and Kaitlyn shakes it. He is much bigger than the three kids.

"Hello! We are here to-"

"AND LOOK AT WHO ELSE IS HERE," Max Brass interrupts Ribbon Girl, "It's that blue-hair kid from the concert! And- Oh, wow! The MVP from that night! Hello!" He points to Minako. Even though they watched the interview, Max is louder in person. A lot louder.

"Hi" Minako says silently.

"'Sup" Andy replies.

Kaitlyn hops back into the commotion, "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Brass-"

"Please. You guys can just call me Max. Now, Are all of y'all going to join the Grand Prix?" Max interrupts again.

Kaitlyn tries to talk once more, ".. Ye-"

"SPLENDID!" Max yells. Kaitlyn looks a tad bit annoyed.

Outside, Julia finally caught Naoto. "Naoto! Don't do that!" Julia punches his arm.

He does not feel anything because his arm is made of chains, "Why not?"

"Because, I-" Before Julia can get out her rant, another automobile flies to the tower, scaring her once more. This time it is a police van. In the passenger seat of the van, Barq is getting on to Byte about his poor driving skills.

"I did not run a red light, it was yellow!" Byte argues.

"BARQ!"

A grunting noise comes from the back of the van, "Have you people ever heard of walking, instead of this horrible piece of transportation?" Maibe asks.

"Welcome to the age of wheels, mummy man" Byte replies.

"We built large shrines with no such thing as wheels, you annoying fool" Maibe growls, "Man, your society today has grown much lazier over the past thousand years"

"Isn't that the truth" Byte says in his monotone robotic voice. The three hop out of the van and go towards the building. Julia does not even notice them as she is trying to help Naoto get back up from falling down, stuck on Mechanica like he was a turtle on it's shell.

Maibe, Byte, and Barq barge into the lobby. Maibe immediately sees Max, "You"

Max looks surprised, "Well, well, well. Isn't it the belle of the ball"

Maibe walks over to the millionaire, matching his size. "You have challenged me to a battle. We will now fight" The mummy then goes into a fighting stance.

Andy hops in, "Woah there, dude. We're not fighting here"

Maibe looks confused, "What? I thought this was a tournament?"

"You have to sign up first" Minako hands Maibe the piece of sign up paper.

"What is this flimsy contraption you have given me?" Maibe shakes the paper around, expecting it to do something.

"You know, for a thousand-year old man, he sure does act like four-year old baby" Byte whispers to Barq.

"Barq"

"Now that is just insensitive" Byte replies.

Maibe then turns to Minako, "Wait, what did you do to your hair?" Minako blushes and wishes she had her beanie.

Max looks at Maibe and then back at the kids, "Wait, so you guys are cool with him?"

"Well, yeah. He didn't really mean to attack us in the first place. It was all a big misunderstanding" Kaitlyn says. Maibe is continuing to mess with the paper while Minako is trying to explain what to do.

Max thinks for a moment, ".. Ok then. Whatever you say," He walks over to the elevator at the end of the hallway. That was the first time he has not interrupted anyone so far, "Now, who want's a tour?"

Andy tilts his head, "Don't we need to sign up fir-"

"Don't worry about it. We'll handle all of that later!" Max goes back to interrupting everyone, "Now, come on, into the elevator!"

* * *

Julia is finally able to pull up Naoto from the ground. "Sorry about that, big bro"

"It is fine. Now, tell me, why are you scared of meeting Max Brass and Ribbon Girl? Do you not want to meet them?" Naoto asks.

Julia panics, "I already told you, I don't wanna look like an idiot. I'll say something stupid and they'll hate me forever and-"

"Julia, you are not going to look like an idiot. Just be yourself" Naoto says.

She closes her eyes for a moment, ".. Ok, I'm ready. Thanks Naoto-" Another car flies to the tower, but this time making Julia angry instead of scared, "CAN ANYONE DRIVE HERE?!"

"We are in a city, you know. No one can drive good" Naoto replies. The two finally make there way down to the entrance of the tower, where they see two scientists, one old and one young, rush into the tower. "What do you think they're doing here?"

"I dunno- Uh... NAOTO!" Julia tugs on Naoto's shirt and points at the back of the scientist's car. Green ooze is spilling out of the trunk. Inside the trunk, the poor driving caused the pickle jar to break open. Naoto pushes Julia so that he is in front of her as she hides behind Mechanica.

"What is that?" Naoto watches as the ooze hits the ground of the parking lot of the tower. Then, out of nowhere, two yellow spots come from the green acid and begin to blink. Then an odd pink noodle comes from the ooze in the shape of a mouth.

"Ba?" The noise comes from the mouth. Naoto has no idea what to think of it as Julia also watches on. Suddenly, the ooze begins to rise into a slim blob shape and grows legs, with the eyes and mouth floating to the top. Three noodles come out from the top to form a little hairdo, and two extendable arms in the shape of DNA sprouts out from the sides. Naoto has never been more scared than from this moment.

Julia looks astonished, "Oh my god. It's Gumby"

"Shababada? SHABADABA!" The strange blob figure begins to run around in circles, eventually smacking into the side of the car. It turns back into a pile of ooze as it begins to move on the ground towards Naoto.

"Hey! Back off!" Naoto yells, stepping backwards as the ooze chases him.

One of the scientist walk back outside to see what is happening, "Helix! Come here boy" A head pop out from the ooze as the blob forms it's weird body once more and runs over to the door.

"DING DONG" It yells as it enters the lobby. The scientist closes the door behind it.

Naoto looks dumbfounded, "... NOPE!" He turns around and starts walking away from the tower. Julia grabs his hand and pulls him to the entrance.

Inside, everyone is stock piling into the elevator. Even though you have three skinny kids, four giant men, and two robots in the elevator, it surprisingly has a lot of room. "Ok, everyone, we're going up!" As soon as the elevator doors close, Naoto and Julia enter the room.

"See? No Max Brass or Ribbon Girl. Do not get so worked up Julia" Naoto tells her. They go to the front desk, Julia holding his hand, as the elevator continues to go up.

"This elevator has one of the best views you can get, baby!" Max Brass points to where the elevator is glass. They can see the entire city as they rise to the very top of the tallest skyscraper. They admire the big buildings in the distance.

"Wow, you made those out of mud? Impressive" Maibe says.

Minako looks at him, "Oh, they're made of steel, not mud"

"What's steel? Is it another decoy to make you people more lazy, such as the 'cah'?" Maibe meant car, but heard 'cah' when Byte was explaining it to him.

".. Is this guy serious?" Max asks.

Everyone watches as Minako explains how buildings are made to Maibe as Kaitlyn looks over to her other side. Andy is nervously shaking, holding on to the railing with his eyes closed. "Hey, you alright?" Kaitlyn asks.

Andy's eyes shoot up open as he tries to play it off, "Uh, yeah. I'm good" He is looking at the elevator door, still holding on to the railing.

"You sure? You don't look like it.." Kaitlyn thinks for a moment, "Are you.. afraid of heights?"

"What? Nah, psst. That's silly" Andy says quickly.

"It's ok if you are. I was just worried about you. You looked like you were gonna start crying or something" Kaitlyn says jokingly.

"Well, uhm, I'm not" Andy replies.

"Ok then.. Say, check out that little taco truck down there" Kaitlyn points to the far distant ground. Andy hesitates for a moment.

"Yeah. Cool, cool. Mhm" He does not look outside the window as he tightens his grip on to the railing some more.

Kaitlyn smiles, "It's alright Andy" Kaitlyn always hates to see someone scared. Andy finally looks at Kaitlyn and actually smiles back at her for a moment until the elevator bounces up and down.

"AND WE'RE HERE!" Max announces. Andy lets out a little girly shriek as his legs give out and he hits his butt on the floor of the elevator. Kaitlyn offers her hand giggling and helps him back up. The doors swing open as the party dispatches into the room, Andy getting there very quickly.

Everyone awe's at the room: It's a very big room, with trophy cases replacing the walls, trophies filling up every single section of the cases. A giant golden chandelier hangs down over a red carpet which cuts through the middle of the room.

"What is this place?" Andy asks.

"Oh, this is my room" Max explains, "It's also my office"

"The office at the station has donuts. I do not think this is a normal office" Byte states.

Max smiles, "It's not, it's-"

"MAGICAL!" Maibe yells. Everyone looks at him, surprised by the outburst, ".. I thought that was where it was going.."

"Oh, it's magical alright. DEBBIE!" Max yells. A large robot made of gold rolls into the room.

"Yes, sir?" The robot says in a female voice.

"Bring me some coffee" Max orders.

"Coming right up, sir!" The robot rolls away into the kitchen.

"You have a kitchen here? In your room?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Yep!" Max says confidently, "And a basketball court, a swimming pool, a party room, and a golden bathtub!"

"Now, what is that robot's name again?" Byte asks.

"Debbie. She is my handmade maid" Max explains.

Byte whispers to him, ".. Is she single?"

"BARQ!"

"What? Did you not see the programming she's packing?!" Byte yells at Barq. Minako and Kaitlyn laugh, "What is so funny?"

Max goes and sits down at his desk made of brass, where a giant monitor faces him. "You know, you guys are not the first people to sign up for the Grand Prix"

"Really? Who else signed up?" Kaitlyn asks.

"I would like to see myself" Maibe states. Max types on his keyboard and pulls up some pictures.

"Two people have signed up so far. The first one to was Damien Floyd. He usually goes by his stream name 'Kid Cobra' though" Max flips the monitor around and reveals a strange figure. He wears a mask with purple shaggy pants. The odd thing about him was that his body was shaped like a cobra head.

"He's ugly" Maibe says.

"Now, Damien is a famous skateboarder on the internet. He is also a self-proclaimed inventor" Max explains.

"Inventor? Inventor of what?" Andy asks.

"'Patent still pending', he told me," Max says, "He is the leader of the Naja Crew 'snake'boarders. He joined over one of his livestreams he does. A flew him out a private jet. He should be here very soon"

"Who was the second?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Chevette Aubertin" Max smiles. Andy's eyes widen.

".. A-Are you talkin' about that movie star girl?" Andy asks.

"Yessiree. Chevette and I have been good friends since we were both in 'Diamond Coast' together. She signed up as soon as she saw the invitational" Max laughs.

"I can't believe Chevette Aubertin is going to be here!" Andy smiles.

"Why?" Kaitlyn asks.

Andy turns to the girls, "She is, like, the hottest chick in the world!"

"Oh, is that so?" Kaitlyn crosses her arms, a look of annoyance on her face. Minako does the same.

Andy realizes what he just said, "Uh, uh, no offense.. I mean, uh-"

"Here's a picture of her" Max flips the monitor back around to show the movie-star. Kaitlyn and Minako look at her, surprised.

"Dang, she really is" Kaitlyn says.

"Eh. You people nowadays have some low standards if that's the most beautiful girl around here" Maibe explains.

Byte pokes in, "I believe you people are forgetting about Debbie"

"Wait," Minako looks at the picture again, ".. She doesn't have extendable arms like we do"

"Good eye" Max tells Minako, "No, her arms power is in her hair. That's how she got her movie fame. She started out as 'Twintelle' a little girl with magic hair. She still goes by that name"

"So that is where Twintelle Productions comes from" Kaitlyn says, "Well, when do we sign up?"

Max thinks for a moment, "Well, I guess we can do that now down at the lobby"

Maibe interrupts, "Uh, is there a place for handling private businesses?"

".. Ya' mean a crapper? The bathroom is down there" Max points down a hallway where more trophy cases line the walls.

"Ok, but what is a bathroom?" Maibe asks.

".. Oh no" Byte says.

* * *

Down in the lobby, Julia and Naoto are writing down their initials and other details in the sign up sheet. "Ok, I don't have a phone. Can I put down yours?" Julia asks.

"What? No. Just do not write anything there" Naoto tells her.

".. I'm putting yours anyway"

"Stop it!" Naoto tries to grab her pencil but ends up being in a tug of war with her.

"Babafaa!" The strange blob creature yells, staring at the wall in the corner. Julia and Naoto watch him as he waddles around the lobby, looking at all the plants and brass ornaments on the desk. The blob sniffs Mechanica and Naoto's bag, which is laying on the wall of the lobby. He sees Naoto watching him and waddles towards the college kid.

"Uh... Hi?' Naoto says. The blob breathes on him, getting very close to his face, "I am very uncomfortable right now"

"I think he likes you" Julia says.

"Helix, leave him alone" The older scientist says as he is writing on the sign up sheet. Helix walks away and continues messing around with objects in the room.

The two get back to the sign up sheet, "Now, Naoto," Julia starts out, "Since we are doing this, I gotta ask you something"

"What is it?"

"I need you to go out with Ribbon Girl" Julia tells him.

"Excuse me?" Naoto asks.

Julia turns to him, "If you date Ribbon Girl, that'll make her my big sister! It would be perfect!"

"I am not going to date anybody" Naoto tells her.

"You've never dated in your life. You're so boring" Julia says.

".. I am a ninja. I am not boring"

"Yes you are!" Julia says.

"I am not playing this game" Naoto goes back to his sign up sheet.

"Yes you are!" She repeats. Naoto sits in silence, "YES YOU ARE!"

".. No I am not.."

"Yes you are!" Julia says, louder than before. It has always been a game between them to try to outdo each other with 'Yes you are' and 'No I'm not'.

As the two approach finishing the sign up sheet, Naoto speaks up to Julia, "See, we got this done and did not even see Max Brass or Ribbon Girl. You were worried over nothing"

Julia giggles, "I guess you're right-" Suddenly, the two elevator doors fly open.

"WHAT'S POPPIN' IN HERE?!" Max Brass yells into the room, introducing himself to everyone. He does that every time he enters a room. Beside him is Ribbon Girl. Julia's heart drops as she stands there facing the two.

"Hello, Mr. Brass" Naoto holds out his hand.

"Well, Howdy! I'm guessing you're here for the Grand Prix. Nice to meet ya', what's ya' name son?" Max shakes his hand furiously. Both try to mentally overpower each other with their grip. Minako and the bodyguards enter the room. Andy follows behind, a bit queasy.

"My name is Naoto. And this is my friend Julia-" Naoto turns to his side and sees that Julia has vanished. He turns around to see Julia quickly slamming the door of the girl's restroom and hiding inside, "Julia! Ugh"

"What's she about?" Max asks.

"Sorry, she was never shy until today. You and Ribbon Girl are her idols" Naoto explains. He turns to the girl beside Max, "I am guessing you are Ribbon Girl. Nice to meet you" He bows to both of them.

"Nice to meet you too" Kaitlyn replies.

"Now, let me go get her" Naoto walks over to the girl's restroom door and knocks, "Julia? Julia, come on out"

"New phone, who dis?" Julia replies. Kaitlyn walks over to the door.

"Hello? It's Julia right?" Kaitlyn asks. The door slowly opens as the young girl sees Ribbon Girl.

".. H-Hi" Julia replies.

"Why hello there. So, is this your brother?" Kaitlyn asks, pointing to Naoto.

"Yes!"

"No, no I am not her brother" Naoto tells Kaitlyn.

"Yes, he is!" Julia starts to motion Naoto to Ribbon Girl with her eyes, referring to what they talked about earlier.

Naoto rolls his eyes, "Julia is a big fan of you. She is always listening to your songs"

"Oh, that's sweet!" Kaitlyn replies as she faces Julia, "Which one is your favorite-"

"First off, I just want to say how much I love you Ribbon Girl, this is so crazy to finally have meet you andIdontknowifIcandoitbecauseyouresoamazingandI-" Julia begins to speak really fast until she sees Max Brass. "MAX! I'm also your biggest fan!" She runs over to Max and starts doing the same thing.

Naoto whispers to Kaitlyn, "How did you do that?"

"I deal with kids like her all the time. They're either really shy or want to be my personal stalker. I get it" Kaitlyn replies as the two walk back to the lobby.

"I can NOT believe I'm actually talking to the Max Jackson! This is the best day of my life!" Julia happily states.

Max gives off a nervous grin, "Oh, uh, you can just call me Max Brass. No need for that name"

"Your real name is Max Jackson?" Andy asks.

"Mhm," Julia answers for him, "He went through plenty of different names in his career, like Max Jackson, Mr. LongReach, Armstrong, and then Max Brass"

"Dang, You really know your stuff kid" Max says.

"Oh, yeah, and there was that phase between Armstrong and Brass where you were a rapper for a few weeks" Julia smiles.

Max immediately tightens up, "I.. don't know what you're talking about.."

"Wait, rapper?" Andy laughs.

"MJ SHIZZLE!" Julia yells, remembering the name finally.

"THAT NAME IS NOT ALLOWED IN THIS TOWER!" Max says intensely. Naoto and Kaitlyn get back to the lobby. Max takes a second to calm down, "So, your friend is signing up for the Grand Prix?"

Julia thinks about her answer, "Yep, he sure is-"

"She is also joining" Naoto speaks up. Julia turns around and motions Naoto to stop.

Max tilts his head in confusion, "Really now? You?"

Julia looks very nervous as Naoto walks over and presents Mechanica as if he was a gameshow girl revealing a brand new car. "This is her own invention. It is controlled by her punches. I have already fought it once, and let me tell you, it is no easy task"

The three kids look at it in awe, "That's so cool! I wanna try!" Andy says.

"Me too" Kaitlyn says next. Julia gives off a small smile.

Max does not seem that impressed though, "Huh. Interesting"

Naoto grabs a piece of scrap paper and flips it around, "Say, Mr. Brass, could you please sign your name on the back of this paper in the form of an autograph? My friend Julia would greatly appreciate it" He says in the most formal way he can.

"Sure" Max takes the paper and grabs a pen off the lobby's desk and signs his name. There is a fist instead of an 'a' in Brass. It is surprising that he could do that in such a quick time, but then again he is a big celebrity.

"I want to sign it too!" Kaitlyn runs over and grabs the pen and paper, writing down Ribbon Girl in her best cursive; which is not that good. Of course a heart is the dot of the 'i'. She hands Julia the sheet as the young girl gives off a huge smile.

"Thank you.. Thank you so much.. This means so much to me-"

"I CAN NOT BELIEVE I HAD TO TEACH YOU HOW A TOILET WORKS!" A robotic voice says in the distance.

"BACK IN MY DAY WE WENT OUT IN THE SAND! YOU HAD TO FIGHT WILD ANIMALS TO GET A GOOD SPOT!" Another voice growls.

"BARQ" A dog barqs. The elevator doors fly open, revealing Maibe and Byte arguing over the traumatizing events that just occurred back in Max's bathroom. Julia sees Maibe and immediately flares up in anger.

"You! AHH" Julia yells as she runs over to Maibe. Andy catches her, making her an arms reach away from the mummy.

"Woah, chill little girl!" Andy tries to keep Julia in his arms as she squirms to try to get her hands on Maibe.

"You will pay for what you did! LET ME AT 'EM! LET ME AT 'EM!" Julia yells.

"That's a funny looking chipmunk" Maibe says.

Naoto comes over and helps pull Julia down as Kaitlyn also comes over. "Julia, it's ok," Kaitlyn tells her, "It was all a misunderstanding. He didn't mean to attack us the way he did"

"Wait, what? But he-"

"Got destroyed by Min Min, is what he did!" Kaitlyn smirks, looking at Minako.

"I am still wanting my rematch soon" Maibe tells Minako.

As all the kids and a thousand-year old man talk to each other about the events, Max scratches his chin in thought, "Hm. Interesting..." He gives off a big smile when he feels breathing on his neck. He turns and sees a green blob right on him, "WHAT IN THE BRASS BLAZES?!" Max immediately sucker punches the blob in the face, sending it across the room. Everyone turns around to see what happened.

The two scientist walk back into the lobby as they left to go check on something in their car. "Oh, what are you doing there, Helix?"

"Cakaw!" A strange noise comes out of Helix as he slides off the wall and back onto his stubby feet. Max looks at him, a bit disgusted.

"What the heck is that thing doing in my lobby?" He asks.

"This is Helix. Or project H31-IX. He is the first genetically made ARMS fighter" The older scientist explains.

"Humbaba!" Helix waves to Max, who is looking very annoyed.

"Is this 'Helix' guy gonna be in the tournament?" Max asks.

"Yep! And we can confidently tell you he can win it all- Helix! No!" The young scientist tries to get Helix to stop eating the plants, which he has done secretly throughout the lobby.

Max rolls his eyes, "Alright, everyone, lets get signed in. I wasn't really expecting a whole armada of contestants to join today" So, everyone sits down a works on their sign up sheet. Minako helps Maibe with his, having to leave a lot of stuff blank. One thing Max notices is Byte is not signing up, "Hey, you, are you joining?"

"No. I am in charge of keeping track of this piece of hassle over here" He points to Maibe, who is to focused on how to use a pencil to hear.

"Why don't you sign up? The more the merrier!" Max tells the robot.

"You.. You really think so?" Byte feels like he is blushing but does not have any cheeks.

"Sure, why not?"

".. Oh alright! Come on Barq!" Byte exclaims.

"Barq!" The dog says happily. They begin to write down information also.

After a couple more minutes, Max states loudly and confidently, "Ok everyone! I hope to see you all tomorrow for auditions!"

Andy looks confused, ".. Auditions?"

"Mhm. Y'all didn't think you were getting into my Grand Prix without showing off your stuff, did ya'? So, be prepared to show off your skills tomorrow!" Max laughs. Everyone but Naoto and Maibe looks uneasy. Everyone finishes off and begins leaving as night slowly arrives.

"Come on Helix! Let's get out of here" The younger scientist tells there creation. Helix waddles out to the parking lot.

Kaitlyn giggles, "I never thought I'd see something like that in my life!"

"Me neither" Minako tells her.

"HE LEFT TRACKS! WHAT THE HECK!" Max yells as he notices green spots in his lobby. The two girls laugh out loud. Outside, the two scientists hop into the car as Helix plops into the trunk.

"I can not believe that worked" The older scientist says.

"I am just happy they did not say the trigger word" The younger scientist states, "It would've given us away"

"Yeah, I know" The other scientist says as they pulls off into the night.

Maibe, Byte, and Barq are next to leave. They get in their police van, Maibe laying down in the back about to go to sleep, "I am glad you joined the tournament" Maibe tells Byte.

"Why is that?"

"Because then I get to clobber you into tiny pieces" Maibe shows a devilish grin.

"We will see about that, pipsqueak" Byte mocks as the three drive off.

Inside, Max left to his office, leaving the kids the only ones in the lobby. "Thank you so much for the autograph Ribbon Girl!" Julia tells her.

"No problem. Will I see you tomorrow?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Oh, definitely!" Julia grins.

Naoto steps in, "Ok, it was nice to meet all of you. We are going to leave now" He motions Julia to the door as he wraps Mechanica on to his back.

"Bye!" Kaitlyn waves. Minako also waves silently. Naoto waves back at Minako as they walk out of the lobby. ".. He was totally checking out your hair"

"Stop it" Minako tells her.

Outside, Julia and Naoto begin to chat. "So, what did you think of Ribbon Girl? Huh? HUUUH?"

"You need to stop that" Naoto shakes his head.

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?" Julia says louder. A silence falls between the two as they walk to their apartment building, ".. Hey, big bro"

"Yes?" Naoto asks.

"You're so awesome" Julia looks at her autographed piece of paper.

"I know" Naoto smiles. Julia nudges his chain arm.

Back in the lobby, Andy, Minako, and Kaitlyn are the only ones left, "Well, we should get going," Kaitlyn tells them, "So, Andy, you want us to drop you off at the park? We did mess up your exercise routine" She says jokingly.

"Well, actually, my car is down at the park, so we should head over there" Andy tells her.

".. Shoot. I didn't think about that. I bet your car is super cold by now. Sorry Andy" Kaitlyn says.

"Nah, it's all good. The bus was a lot more stylish to drive in anyway" He smirks. The three get back on the tour bus and drive towards Fils-Aime Park. Once they arrive, Andy steps off and waves at them.

"Bye you guys!" Andy says.

"We will be picking you up tomorrow, by the way" Kaitlyn tells him.

"Oh, You don't have to" Andy replies.

"What? Are you saying you don't want to ride with the almost prettiest girls in the world?" Kaitlyn jokes, referring to the events earlier today.

Andy smiles, "Alright. You can come pick me up at the college then"

"We'll do! Bye Andy!" Kaitlyn yells.

"Bye" Minako yells slightly quieter. The tour bus drives off as Andy gets into his car and heads to Northwest Anken College. Once there, instead of going to his dorm, he drops on to a bench outside. Probably for the best since he always get jumped by people asking about the concert. He closes his eyes and sleeps as the tour bus finds it's own place to rest.

* * *

Max Bras sits impatiently in his office, staring at the walls of the trophies around him. He thinks for a moment and then quickly types in a number on his phone. He looks around to make sure he is alone. "Hello? Hey. This is Brass-" As he speaks on the phone, Debbie barges in.

"Can I help you to anything sir?" Debbie scares Max.

"Not now DEBBIE!" He yells. The robot quickly goes back into the other room. Max breathes a bit more to calm down, "Ok, here's the plan" Max stares into his own reflection in the trophy cases as he talks quietly into the phone so no one can hear.

* * *

 **Ok, first off, sorry for the super long wait time. I've been very busy lately and it is only going to get busier. So I apologize for the over a week long wait. To put it in perspective, I wrote the Twintelle scene on the 5th, and now it is the 12th. Because of this, I will tell you that the next chapter will be the last chapter of Part 1. Now, that does not mean there is going to be some big hiatus or I will start another story called Part 2, it just means we are almost done introducing the characters. Chapter 7 will be the beginning of Part 2, where we get really into the meat of things, so I can not wait for that. But, until then, Please leave a review saying how you thought this chapter was. Thank you so much for reading! Also, I put in an easter egg for one of my reviewers in here. I bet you saw it, haha. See you next time!**

 **UPDATE: Next chapter will not be released until this week is over. Reason being Marching Band is kicking my butt all week. Look up a Baritone Saxophone incase you want to see what I am going through, haha.**


	6. Audition Day

**Howdy, and oooooh boy, don't I have some explaining to do. If you are reading these chapters side-by-side then this does not affect you, but the last time I updated this story was over a month ago. I was actually planning to upload the next chapter the month anniversary of the last update, but that did not work out. Essentially, in the time from the last chapter to this, I have done 8 AM to 8 PM Marching Band all summer, then started up school that gave me homework every night, and I have also had to go to every football game and work on other projects of my own. The reason why I updated so much when the story first got going was because I had so much free time that was then taken from me the LAST DANG CHAPTER OF PART 1. Honestly, if I were you readers, I would be asking what the heck happened also.**

 **Also, side-note, another reason I haven't worked on this in the tiny free time I had was because- to be honest- ARMS lost it's appeal to me. I mean, at the end of the day, these are not the legit characters of ARMS. The real characters are these one-dimensional archetypes that can be summed up in one paragraph on the website. So, because of that, I found myself uninspired to continue with the story due to the lack of it in the source material. But then I watched that Lola Pop trailer that came out and said to myself, "... SCREW IT, LET'S GET BACK INTO IT!"**

 **Speaking of which, another side-note, Lola Pop. I honestly have no idea what to do with her, haha. I am going to wait until they give out more information about her character- or lack there of- and create her through that. So I will work her into the story later on, but don't expect her to show up this chapter.**

 **Side-note number tres, the first portion of this was written the day after I wrote the last chapter, but up from when Andy's first segment ends to the end was made just now, so sorry if the writing feels a bit different from those two parts.**

 **And now, after all this wait, here is the final chapter of PART 1. (... Oh yeah, if you're coming back to this after the waiting time, I would say to go a refresh a little bit on past chapters. Trust me, I had to myself, haha.)**

* * *

The silence in the police station at night irritates the pharaoh as he lays down on a rock hard bed inside a dark cell. The only light protruding into the small corridor is a small window carved out in one of the walls with bars blocking it in any hope of escape. Outside the cell, Maibe can see the annoying robot and that odd dog thing standing in the corner through the jail bars, shut down for the night to charge their battery. Maibe sees this as a perfect time to run.

As quiet as a large bulky mummy can, he steps off the bed and slowly extends one of his arms. The arm squeezes through the jail bars- being only wrapping paper- and swiftly slithers to Byte like a snake. On the waist of Byte's robotic body are the keys to the cell that holds Maibe captive. Maibe knows this since as he paid attention every time Byte let him out of this tiny cage. The mummy is not sure why the people of this age locked him up in a tiny cage; Back in his day you were killed off for committing a crime instead of being taken care of as if you were at a daycare. _People have no class now_ , Maibe thought.

Maibe tries to quietly undo the latch that holds the keys to Byte's waist, trying not to make the jingle of the metal wake up the robot or worst; That dang dog. The dog has given Maibe the most trouble between the two. Maibe believes Barq is the mastermind behind the loony robot, making him a lot more dangerous, which is probably true. Maibe finally undoes the latch and lets the keys fall into his hand.

The keys then bounce off his hand and smack the hard ground, creating the loudest noise it can. Maibe flinches for a moment, frozen in time, waiting to get caught by the robots. But neither of the robots come back from their charging state, which is very surprising to Maibe. Possibly just some miracle from the Gods, telling him that what he is doing is correct. The arm, now with keys at hand, slides back into the cell.

Maibe fumbles with the keys and tries multiple into the lock until one finally goes inside. He quickly turns it back and forth, unaware of how it works, until the cell door unlocks. Maibe slips out into the hallway, leaving the cell door open, and silently jogs out of the room. The mummy finds himself in the lobby of the police station where two exits go into the outside world. He is about to make a run for the nearest one when he notices someone at the front desk.

He hides behind a wall and holds his breath, almost getting caught. The person at the desk is the small round female police officer that works with Officer Radcliffe. One exit is in front of her, the other is beside her desk. She is sitting down, playing on her laptop with headphones in, not really paying attention to anything going on in the outside world.

The mummy sees this and decides to crawl over to the front of the desk, the direct opposite of where she is sitting. The small round officer is watching some odd cartoon- some people describe it as 'anime'.

"I must stop Lee-Chang from opening the black hole!" A girl with cat ears yells. She is suppose to be in college but looks like she is twelve.

"I can't let you do that, I love you to much" A good-looking fellow with a tuxedo says. He is very articulate for only having a mouth that just goes up and down like a puppet.

"UDEMON!" A creepy mascot character jumps at the screen. The female officer is really into it when she sees the exit door in front of her open.

She takes off the headphones and looks at the exit, "Hello? Officer Byte?" She asks. With no response, she grabs her flashlight and walks over to the exit and peeks into the night sky. There is no one outside. "Probably just wind" She convinces herself. As she does, Maibe, who is still sitting in front of the desk, slowly brings his arm back from pushing the exit door open and then rushes to the other door beside the desk. The door closes behind him before she can turn around and see. She shrugs and goes back to her laptop.

Maibe runs to the outside world, smiling as he escapes the confinement of the police station.

* * *

The sun rises, waking everyone up so that the next day can begin. Everyone except Andy, who is still asleep laying down on the bench, outside, unaffected by the sunlight. As he sleeps, a stick from the grass starts poking him side. It then pokes his cheek. Then goes up his nose, which wakes him up.

"AH!" Andy yells, finally sitting up. Kaitlyn laughs as Minako puts the stick down. Both are wearing pajamas. "What did you do that for?"

"To make sure you weren't dead" Minako tells him, "Now we know"

"So," Kaitlyn speaks up, "Were you seriously here all night? You looked like a homeless dropout"

"I got tired" Andy says. He stretches his back; Turns out an old bench is not the best place to get some sleep.

"Well, you want to go ahead and get to the tower for auditions?" Kaitlyn asks in a very cheery mood.

"I haven't even had breakfast yet" Andy tells her.

The young celebrity thinks for a moment, "Oh yeah. Breakfast. I forgot about that"

"Me too" Minako replies. They both start laughing.

Andy is a bit put off by this, "Are you two ok? You're freakin' me out"

Kaitlyn calms herself, "We're goooood"

".. What time did you go to sleep last night?" Andy asks.

"3 AM ANDY-MAN" Kaitlyn replies, obviously a bit loopy.

Andy looks at his clock, "It's 8 right now. Did you only get five hours of sleep?"

"We were very busy" Kaitlyn tells him.

"We built a pillow fort" Minako says.

Kaitlyn tries to hold back her giggling. If Andy did not know both girls were underage, he would have assumed they were drunk. "Well, I'm gonna grab something to eat. Probably some pizza"

Kaitlyn's eyes widen, "Pizza for breakfast? That's nasty Andy"

"Pizza is good 24/7"

"Oh, whatever," Kaitlyn says, "We know a better place to get some breakfast. You want to join us?"

"Is there pizza involved?" Andy asks.

"Absolutely not"

Andy wonders if this is a good idea, ".. Alright. I'll tag along"

"Good, 'cause we need someone to pay" Kaitlyn tells him.

".. Wait, what?" Andy asks. Before he knows it, he is back on the bus. Andy has not even took a shower or fixed his hair yet, but for some reason the girls were fine with him looking like trash. But his hair was not as smooth as it usually was, which bothered Andy. The least he can do is brush his teeth.

"Here, you an use this one" Kaitlyn says as she hands a toothbrush to him. Andy thanks her and brushes his teeth with pink toothpaste that has a unicorn on the tube. Dave walks by, but then stops when he sees Andy.

"What? What are you- HEY, THAT'S MY TOOTHBRUSH!" Dave yells. Andy immediately drops it on the floor from the sudden screaming. The two girls laugh from their room.

"It's not like you use it, Dave!" Kaitlyn tells him through her door.

"Those dang girls!" Dave shoves Andy out of the bathroom and washes off his toothbrush.

"Andy!" Kaitlyn yells, "Andy, come here!" Andy opens the girl's bedroom and sees the mother of all pillow forts. They were not kidding. There was a lot of pillows.

"Woah, nice" Andy tells them.

"Andy-man, You are trespassing on enemy grounds! Get him!" Kaitlyn starts chucking pillows at Andy.

"You asked me to come in here"

Kaitlyn breaks character for a moment, "Yeah, just so we can throw pillows at you.. FIRE AT WILL!" She and Minako continue there attack. Andy just stands there and takes the pillows.

"FRIENDLY FIRE!" Minako yells as she throws a pillow at Kaitlyn. The two start having a pillow fight. This is the silliest thing Andy has ever seen. Suddenly, the bus hits it's brakes hard, causing Andy to fall over. The pillow fort is unaffected though due to it's layers of protection.

"Oh, sorry, we should've warned you about that" Kaitlyn tells him, "The brakes a lil' wonky here"

"No kidding" Kaitlyn helps Andy up as they walk to the door. They are at some place called 'Mintendo Noodle House' that he has never heard of. "What is this?"

"A noodle joint. It has some of the best breakfast foods around" Kaitlyn tells him.

"I work here" Minako says to Andy.

"Really?"

"More like owns the place. Her family runs it" Kaitlyn explains, "Trust me, this is better than some ol' pizza" The three walk into a Chinese themed restaurant, Kaitlyn's bodyguards following behind. Turns out they have their own room in the tour bus. The inside is not crowded, but it does have a good amount of customers. They go sit down at the bar, Kaitlyn sitting down between Minako and Andy. The bodyguards sit beside Andy, making him a bit uncomfortable as they stare at him.

A waiter comes up to them, "Hello, welcome to the Mintendo- Oh, hi sis" Daichi greets.

"Daichi, you have to do the full greeting" Minako tells him how to do her own job she use to have before joining the Grand Prix.

"Whatever.." Daichi says, ".. 'Hello, welcome to the Mintendo Noodle House'" He bows reluctantly.

"That's her brother" Kaitlyn whispers to Andy. Daichi looks over at Andy.

".. Who's that?" Daichi asks.

"Oh, he's our friend, Andy. He was the guy at the concert a while back" Kaitlyn explains.

"'Sup" Andy greets.

"Oh yeah, blue hair dude... It's not as impressive in person" Daichi tells him. Andy looks annoyed, as he could have gotten some time to fix his hair before going out in public. But then again he was asleep in public.

The three gets some food from off the menu which taste pretty good, making Andy slightly less regret not going for pizza. He guesses hanging out with the girls also takes off some regret. "I could've cooked this better" Minako tells them.

They begin to chat about the Grand Prix situation, "So, do you two think you're ready for something like this?" Andy asks.

Kaitlyn talks first, "I don't honestly know. Last night, Min Min and I watched some of the old fights from the 80s. They're intense"

"We found Max Brass's first fight online" Minako tells Andy.

"Yeah," Kaitlyn continues, "He fought this big sweaty Russian dude. Min Min has been giving me some pointers on how to fight, since she knows Karate" The two girls have calmed down from there silly nature after eating some food.

"Karate?" Andy does not seem surprised after thinking about how Minako fought Maibe at the concert. "Isn't Karate, like, Japanese though? I thought Kung-Fu was the Chinese thing"

"What, you thought since she was Chinese she would only learn Kung-Fu? Hm? HMM?!" Kaitlyn mocks Andy.

Andy panics for a moments, "I didn't mean it like that, I-I meant-"

"We're just playing with you" Both girls laugh.

Minako smiles, "Besides, Karate is a lot more fun than Kung-Fu"

"Well," Andy tries to change the topic from him being ignorant about Asian culture, "I was a boxer for a little bit in the middle of college"

"That's cool. Why'd you stop?" Kaitlyn asks.

Andy points to his rubber arms, "This is considered cheating"

"What?" Minako questions, "They let me compete Karate as long as I kept them rolled in and not sprung"

"Yeah, well, I didn't keep them rolled in that much" Andy winks. When he use to box, he had to keep his arms from not springing, but since you were constantly throwing punches that usually did not happen. Plus, shooting them out caused your opponent to fall down faster.

The three finish off their food and begin to plan their departure, "I guess our next stop is the tower, huh?" Kaitlyn says.

"You nervous?" Andy asks her.

"A little bit actually," Kaitlyn honestly says, "I don't know what he means by 'audition'. Are we going to have to actually fight someone or do one of those crazy obstacle courses on TV?"

"Only one way to find out" Andy tells Kaitlyn, "Like that big mummy guy said, you will do awesome"

Kaitlyn smiles, ".. You really think so?"

"Totally!" Andy says confidently.

Kaitlyn blushes a little, but starts thinking about past events. A silence falls within the group when Kaitlyn finally speaks up, "Hey, guys... How do you feel about Maibe?"

"He's a funny dude. Why?" Andy asks.

"Because, after that little girl tried attacking him the yesterday at the tower, I realized something: All of my fans hate him. He attacked all of us at the concert. He is a terrorist in their eyes, or something like that" Kaitlyn explains.

"Well, that's because they don't know that it was a misunderstanding" Andy replies.

"But then, that got me thinking.. Should we hate him too? At the end of the day, he did do all of that, even if he apologized.. kind of," Kaitlyn tells them, "Should we just straight up forgive someone if they're sorry for their actions? Even if their actions were very bad?"

"Dang, that's some moral question you got right there. Sounds like you wanna share political views or somethin'" Andy jokes.

"I've just been thinking about it since we spoke to him at the police station. I was so ready to go back there and beat him up. Should I still feel that way?" Kaitlyn asks. It's obvious this is bothering her, since Kaitlyn likes to try to be friends with everyone.

Minako finally completes her thought process, "We've all done something stupid Kate. It's up to others to give us a second chance. What he did was stupid, but it's up to us to give him a second chance or not. And he seems like a nice guy, for someone who screams a lot" She tells Kaitlyn.

"What she said" Andy says, not very good at voicing his own opinion.

"I guess that makes sense. Maybe I am just overthinking this," Kaitlyn says, "Say, I wonder what Maibe is doing now"

* * *

Imagine you waking up and peering outside your window to your small nice subdivision- side-by-side with your greeting neighbors- having the rustle and fuss of the city off in the distance, but never interrupting your sleep. Now imagine a straight-up cop car busting out of an open garage right next door with their sirens on. That was the situation for the people who live beside Officer Radcliffe.

"Do you have any idea where he went?!" Radcliffe barks through her walkie talkie. That morning Radcliffe was following her usual routine of drinking coffee and taking a shower right before heading to work. Since she lives so close to the city and the police station, she was allowed to bring her cop car home to our small blue house she had in the Treelove Subdivision; ironic as it was beside one of the most non-ecofriendly cities in the nation. This morning was different however, as the officer found her phone filled with missed calls and urgent voicemails.

"N-No clue Officer Radcliffe" A stuttering voice comes back from the walkie talkie that belongs to Officer Annie, the one who was given 'night-patrol', "The camera's showed him running off into the woods. I'm sorry!"

The police car gains more speed as it wakes up the city. "We should've put that creep in an asylum when we had the chance.." Radcliffe growls, "Where is Officer Byte?"

"WWWWHHHHEEEeeeeeeww" Suddenly, answering her question, Radcliffe sees a familiar blue robot riding down the sidewalk on his robot dog, fast enough to reach the speed of light. Radcliffe immediately pulls off the road and slams her brake as she jumps out and blows her whistle.

Byte and Barq quickly follow their programming and rides up back to the police car. "Hello, Officer Radcliffe" Byte says, hopping off Barq as he turns his siren off he has for a forehead.

"What on earth are you two doing?" She yells.

"What I presume you are also doing, trying to find the escaped criminal" Byte explains.

"Yes, that's what I'm doing," Radcliffe says clearly, "But da' heck was that? You look like you're going down a waterslide at a theme park!"

"Speed is key, Radcliffe" Byte finger guns using his robot hands. Barq nods his head, which is his entire body.

Radcliffe rolls her eyes, "Just.. get in the car" With that, Byte opens the front door for Barq and he sits in the backseat, his knees reaching up to his chest thanks to the height his body was built. His large pinhead also barely fit, making him have to turn his head to the side. The car's engine start up as the sirens continue their screeching of emergency.

The three drive throughout the city, passing Brass Tower in the process. Byte explains how, with the help of his cameras implemented inside his eyes, that Maibe stole his keys while he was charging the night before. Radcliffe is a bit peeved at the robot for letting such a rookie mistake happen, but her mind is all focused on is finding this large overweight monstrosity before he does anything. She had a feeling he was lying the entire time; playing a character, but she blames herself for not completely treating him like the criminal he is. Who knows that horrible acts he could be doing right now?

* * *

"Yeah! Show it who's boss! No mercy, all glory!" Maibe yells as he watches a stray kitten play with a empty soda can. Throughout the night before, the pharaoh as been out in the city, admiring the large temples of steel made by the humans of now. Although they were made quickly and lazily, they were still better than the mud-houses he knows. Maibe has also been practicing for the auditions, punching dumpsters and hopping from roof to roof. While doing this, he met a small cat he named 'Montu'. Now they are work out buddies.

Montu lands the final blow on the can- which is actually just the cat getting bored with it and pushing it away- and sits down beside Maibe in the damp alleyway between two buildings. "Fight well fought," Maibe cheers, "I was not sure halfway through you were going to make it out alive, but you did it!"

"Meow"

"Yes, meow, definitely" Maibe has no clue what meow means, but did not want to be rude and ask. The mummy looks out to see light from the sun scaring away the shadows of the alley and stands back up. "Well, it appears I have to go. I have to 'audition' or something for the tournament. I hope to see you again Montu" The cat licks itself as Maibe jogs to the giant golden tower in the distance.

While the great pharaoh marches down the modern city streets, A nearby apartment building made for cheap travelers host two unlikely visitors and their strange giant robot. "Ok, say, 'Can I have something to drink?'" Julia says.

"The correct term is ' _May_ I have something to drink' and I am not thirsty right now" Naoto responds.

"Yes, you are! You're dying of thirst!" Julia tells Naoto. He is laying on his bed reading another one of his books as Julia sits on top of her bed- parallel to Naoto's- holding the two grey controllers she brought from her small garage in the scrapyard. Naoto goes silent, "Oh, come oooooon big bro.. pretty please?" Julia begs.

Naoto looks over to the little girl and then back at the book. He decides to play along but knows he will regret it, ".. 'May I have something to drink?'"

"COMING RIGHT UP! Now, let's see.." Julia looks into the small kitchen in their apartment to see Mechanica standing dormant. Julia slowly moves her hand as Mechanica does the same, easing it towards the refrigerator. The claws of the robot grasp the handle of the fridge slowly.

"This is silly" Naoto adds.

"No it's not, I got this, shut up" Julia restates, focusing on the bot's movements. Ever since they signed up for the Grand Prix, the little inventor has been using Mechanica to perform everyday chores for practice. Each time it has not ended well.

As the claw has hold on the refrigerator, Julia slowly pulls back to try and open it. Mechanica ends up dragging the entire fridge across the floor. "You can do it.." Julia mumbles, but every time she tries to pull it open, it just drags it further, "hhhHHUUAGH" She lets our an unneeded war-cry as she swings her arm back as a last attempt to open the fridge. The claw ends up letting go of the handle and it flies across the room. Naoto ducks slightly while Julia jumps to the floor; coincidentally Mechanica does the same, sending the robot on it's stomach.

"How does it get up?" Naoto asks, seeing how the robot it just a big cylinder after all. Julia sits up and looks at the robot and then at the ninja.

"With the jetpack, duh" Julia pressed the button that activates the jetpack.

"Oh, that makes se- WAIT, JULIA!" Naoto yells as Mechanica starts her jetpack inside the kitchen. The robot then slides across the floor straight to Naoto's bed. It slings upward back to it's feet. In the process of doing so, it flips the bed over, sending Naoto flying to the ground.

"Naoto! I'm so sorry!" Julia runs over to the upside-down bed. Naoto is underneath all the sheets. The young girl helps him up as Naoto looks at the robot.

Mechanica makes a car-locking noise. "Yeah, you would like this, would not you?" Naoto tells the robot. Julia giggles.

As the two fix the flipped bed, a strange large shadow comes by the window. "Hey, is not that the large mummy from sign-ups you tried to kill?" Naoto points outside to a jogging purple figure.

"Holy cow! That's totally him. Let's go say hi!" Julia slings the door open and runs off.

"Wait, Julia- Oh, whatever" Naoto grabs Mechanica and follows the aggravation out into the sidewalk. They were already planning to leave soon, so why not now with some company?

The mummy continues his stride to the tower as small footsteps get louder and louder towards him. "Hey! Mummy Man!" Julia yells to get his attention. Maibe turns around to see the two walking towards him.

"Ah," Maibe puts his gigantic hands on his sides, "It's the small chipmunk and the one that talks boring"

"That sounds about right" Julia smiles. Naoto rolls his eyes. "So, you heading to the tower? We are about to go too"

"Indeed. I will look forward to fighting both of you in the future.. although it seems unfair to fight you honestly" Maibe points towards Julia, mentioning her lack of the supernatural gift.

She looks down and holds her arms out, "Oh, yeah. That's why I have this:" Julia points to Mechanica, who is on Naoto's back, ".. Model for me Naoto!"

"Excuse me?"

"Give us a spin" Julia spins her finger in the air. Naoto shakes his head and turns around reluctantly to show Mechanica in her full form.

Maibe laughs, "The chipmunk sure is bossy. You must be her slave"

Naoto quickly spins back around, "Wait, what? No, no, no-"

"Listen, I get it, no one wants to be called a slave. I've never had any myself, but I know people who have some. You just got to own up to it" Maibe explains.

Julia holds back her laughter, "Uh, big man, I think some things changed since thousands of years ago"

Maibe looks confused, "Really? I mean, you had to have someone build these things" He points towards the skyscrapers. "I know the wheel was a big deal and all, but let's be real here"

"Well, anyway, I am not her 'slave'," Naoto thinks back to how he was the one that brought her here in the first place, which does not help his case in the slightest, "We are both going to be competing in the Grand Prix"

Maibe holds out his hand, "Well, can't wait to take have a chance against you two. I will make sure to not go hard on you son"

"What was that?" Naoto tilts his head.

"Well, I mean," Maibe straightens up, showing his size as if he is competing for a female, "Look at me and then look at you. You have a flimsy body boring one"

Naoto looks annoyed, and it is quite rare someone annoys him whose name does not rhyme with 'Mafia', "I will have you know I am top of my class at Rasen Ninjutsu University in the art of the shinobi"

"I have no idea what you just said," Maibe adds, "But I will have _you_ know I am one of the most acclaimed ARMS fighters to ever live"

"I can dodge a hundred shurikens while being locked in a crate!"

"I caught a ball made of bronze thrown into the sky without flinching! TWICE!"

"I have carried this half-a-ton robot since we have arrived here!"

"I took on a camel and won.. by a slim margin, but.. still won!"

"I SURVIVED FALLING OFF A CLIFF!"

"I KILLED A MAN WITH THESE HANDS!"

Naoto backs off, "Woah, what?"

"I'm just kidding," Maibe smiles, "But wait, you fell off a cliff? How?"

"Slipped"

Maibe gives out his hearty laugh, "I like you son. Here, let us go to the auditions together. Scare the other contenders when we show up"

"Let us do it then" Naoto begins to walk beside the pharaoh.

Maibe turns around, "Come, little chipmunk" He motions Julia to join them, who has been enjoying this entire back-and-forth between the two men.

"I'm glad he made a new friend" Julia tells herself as she scurries to the two as they make for their destination: Brass Tower.

* * *

"So.. You're a living blob. How does that feel?" Max Brass asks.

"MAhaMA" Helix replies.

"Sounds about right" Max is in the lobby of the tower speaking to the strange gooey creature he met yesterday. The two scientists left to go fetch something, leaving him and Helix alone as they wait for the rest of the contestants.

The humming of a tour bus can be heard from outside, "Oh, thank you" Max quickly heads out, leaving Helix by himself.

"Ooga?"

"Howdy! Today is the big day!" Max rushes over to the bus' door and greets the three teens and the two bodyguards.

"You seem excited yourself" Kaitlyn tells him.

Max looks back at the entrance to the lobby, "To be honest, I was hoping someone would show up. I couldn't stand to be with that blob things any longer"

".. So you just left it" Andy brings up.

"Mhm. And?" Max Brass looks up at him.

"All by itself"

Max's smile quickly drops, "Oh, heck" He runs over to the lobby and opens the door, "Hey! Get back here with that chair!" He runs in as the three teens laugh.

As the group heads to the door, three figures can be seen coming towards them. Two of them are vaguely familiar while one is instantly recognizable. "Remember, do not freak out this time" Naoto tells Julia.

"Ok, I won't" Julia replies. The three meet up with the other contenders.

"Aye! Maibe!" Andy waves.

"The small chipmunk is super nervous right now" Maibe explains, pointing towards Julia.

Her eyes widen, "Uh, uh, uh.."

"Don't worry, I am too. I have no idea how this 'audition' is going to work" Kaitlyn says.

Julia lets her guard down a little, since that is not the real reason for her nervousness, "Y-yeah, we will see I guess"

"Oh, I meant to ask yesterday," Naoto goes towards Andy, "Are you in college?"

"Is it obvious?" Andy says, "Because if it is, I'll have to fix that"

Naoto smirks, "I go to Rasen Ninjutsu University. Top of my class"

"Woah, that ninja school? That's rad!" Andy smiles, "I go to Northwest Anken College. No where near top of my class"

Naoto nods as he sees Minako, now wearing her beanie, unlike yesterday. ".. Hey" He gives off an awkward wave towards her. Minako shoots her hand up in the air and brings it back down in the speed of a lightning strike, trying not to stare at Naoto.

A quick silence falls in the group, ".. He fell off a cliff" Maibe says. The entire group enters the tower to see Max Brass trying to pull out a chair from Helix's mouth.

"Come on you finger-licking-bull-chasing-no-good-peanut-head-" Max Brass continues his southern rant until Helix spits out the chair after realizing it does not taste that good, "Ugh, finally- Woah, more people now"

"Hey Max Brass!" Julia blurs out. Max looks at all the competitors, ignoring her greeting.

"I think about everyone is here. We're just missin'-" Max is interrupted by the sound of a police siren as a cop car flies into the parking lot. A female officer and a robot dog jump out and head towards the entrance, while the large robot in the backseat struggles to get out.

The lobby's door flies open, "Mr. Brass, we have something to tell you. It's about Maibe, he's.." Radcliffe looks to her left and sees a giant purple man standing there, "right here"

"EVERYBODY. HANDS ON YOUR KNEES!" Byte yells as he barges in, one hand being his tickle taser. Radcliffe pokes Byte on the shoulder. He turns and sees Maibe. "... AHA! FOUND YOU!"

"Man, I'm so happy about that" Maibe's sarcasm is showing.

"Are you crazy?! You can't just leave the police station like that" Radcliffe gets up in Maibe's face.

"Why not? You two weren't going to let me practice for today, so I had to do it myself. I can't get ready in a tiny cage" Maibe says.

"But, who knows what you could've been up to!" Radcliffe strikes back.

"I ran through the streets, jumped from roof to roof, and met a cat I named Montu. That's all"

"Oh, yeah, sure-"

"Uh, Officer Radcliffe," Byte gently shoots out a tablet from his chest, "He is not wrong"

Radcliffe grabs the tablet to see Maibe running up and down the street at night, "WOOHOO. LET'S GET IT!" Maibe yells. He runs down an alleyway out of the camera's sigh and then appears on the roof of the building. He jumps to the building beside it and then performs a cartwheel, "YEEHAW!" Maibe then jumps off the roof and on to the road below him. He lands on his leg bad and falls to the ground. He lets out a growl as he gets up, "Pain is just in the mind! Just walk it off! Ow.. Ow.. Ow.." Maibe then limps off camera.

The officer, looking extremely annoyed, hands the tablet back to Byte. "Just.. just keep an eye on him Byte" She takes off her hat and runs her hand in her hair as she exits the tower and back to her vehicle.

In the middle of all the commotion, a sudden roar can be heard from above the tower, "What's that?" Kaitlyn asks.

Max looks up at the ceiling, "Sounds like he finally showed up"

* * *

The elevator was once again filled to the roof with four teenagers, one little girl and her massive robot, two other robots, four big men, two scientists- who finally came back-, and one gross blob. It is odd how that elevator can actually hold that much. It swiftly slides up the side of the tower, letting Julia and Naoto experience the amazing view of the city it had. Instead of stopping at the office of Max Brass, it keeps on going up until it reaches the roof. On the roof reveals a red and black helipad with a design of a fist in the middle, the logo of Max's company. The group does not have long to admire it as a golden jet gently lands on top of it.

Max waits for the jet's engines to cut off before speaking, "Everyone, I would like y'all to meet one of your new competitors.." stairs shoot out from the side of the jet, revealing the butler who hosted the guest. No one comes out of the jet. ".. Damien! Where you at man-"

A strange silhouette exits the jet and slithers on to the roof and on to the other side in the blink of an eye, as if a snake just escaped the jet. "Yo, I'm not the only one who saw that, right? Am I going crazy?" Andy looks to the two girls he has ben hanging out with.

"Probably, bro" Andy jumps forwards when a low Jamaican accent sneaks up behind him and speaks in his ear. The college kid turns to face a rather large strange man holding a skateboard in one hand. It is the weirdo that Max showed them on the monitor yesterday.

"H-Hi!" Andy stutters.

"Wassah'," Andy has no idea what noise came out of Damien just now, but he presumes it was a greeting, "Say, ever seen someone jump off a building?" Before Andy can answer, Damien spins and books it off the roof.

All the people, except Andy, go and look over the edge in shock while Damien plummets down to the ground. The live-streamer grabs his 'snake'board and starts riding down the windows of the tower, swaying side to side as if it was completely normal. A flag pole sticking out of the side of the tower grabs Damien's eyes and he shoots out one of his long extendable arms to grab it. He then swings himself under the flag like a monkey with a branch and flings himself upward back to the roof, performing aerial stunts and flips in the process. He lands safely back on the helipad and kicks up the 'snake'board with his foot. "Aw, yeah! Always wanted to do that!"

Julia runs over to Damien, "Woah, that was so wicked!"

"I know, right?! Always wanted to grind the tallest skyscraper in this city!" He places the 'snake'board magnetically on his back

"How did you know the flag pole was going to be there?" Naoto asks.

"I didn't" Damien laughs. Helix, the blob, decides to follow in Damien's footsteps and jumps off the roof.

"HELIX!" One of the scientists yell. They both run over to find Helix is stuck on the first set of windows in his ooze state. The ooze then quickly goes through a crack in between the window and the building, letting Helix inside the room. That room was Max's office. The gang can immediately hear the blob destroying the place.

"Hey! Get out of my room!" Max and the scientists run to the elevator and swing down to the floor underneath, leaving the rest on the roof.

"So," Damien slithers towards Kaitlyn, "You're the Ribbon Girl, correct?"

"Yeppers. And you're.. a person?" Kaitlyn says curiously.

"I guess you can say that" They can not tell if he is smiling or not since his entire face is covered with a mask fit for a serial killer. "Name's Damien, but call me Kid Cobra"

"I wonder how you got that name" Andy says sarcastically.

"I'm not sure actually," Damien creepily slithers towards the group like a snake, "Oh! Hold on"

Damien pulls out his phone, which is massive, and opens the camera. He points the lenses towards the entire group. "Yo, we made it fellas. We are here at the Brass Tower and look who I have with me!" Damien videos the contestants for his vlog he does for his beloved viewers. Byte starts to frantically wave his hands when the camera reaches him.

He flips the camera around to face himself and he stands beside Kaitlyn. "Oh! Hiya.." Kaitlyn brings her hand up to the phone.

"We got Ribbon Girl here, on the spot. Now, tell me, you ready to get going?" Damien pretends to be some interviewer. He leans his elbow on Kaitlyn's shoulder, establishing his size.

"Hey, back off!" Ricardo yells as he grabs Kaitlyn. He moves her to side when they realize Damien is still in the pose of leaning on somebody, but with no one there. He looks like he is breaking the laws of gravity by not falling over.

"You were saying?" Damien spins and points the phone towards Ribbon Girl.

Kaitlyn hesitates, "I-I guess I a-"

"Great! Now Ribbon Girl- Can I call you Ribby?- I got a question for you sent by a viewer" Damien interrupts.

Kaitlyn gives off an uneasy smile, "Oh, ok-"

"If you crossed a snake with a mouse, what kind of bird do you get?" Damien riddles.

".. What?"

"A swallow" Damien starts laughing way to hard at the horrible pun. Kaitlyn gives off a giggle by nature. Everyone else shrugs except Byte.

".. Oh, I just got it!" Byte starts laughing in a robotic voice.

"Really? Just now?" Andy turns to him.

"I thought he was actually talking about DNA manipulation and experimentation," Byte can barely get the words out from laughing so hard, "B-But after further inspection, I realized it was just a play on words! HA!"

"I like the talking toaster man" Damien says, talking about Byte.

The elevator rises up again with a captured Helix inside. "Phew, sorry Damien. Thing about tore up my entire couch"

"Sup Brass. Now, where's that Aubertin at?" Damien asks.

"She has been in the bathroom since she arrived! She probably fell in or is getting ready. Either way, it takes her five years to get anything done' Max explains.

"Wait, Chevette Aubertin is here? Seriously?" Andy shoots up.

"The chick with the big butt from 'Diamond Coast'? WHAT?!" This is all new to Julia.

"Who?" Naoto is extremely confused why everyone is freaking out.

"Yessiree. Actually, girls, can you check on her?" Max asks, "She's in the VIP Bathroom, just get Debbie to show you"

"We can do that. Come on Min Min. Juliet was it?" Kaitlyn bends down to see the young inventor.

"It's Julia"

"Oh, I'm sorry Julia, my bad" Kaitlyn apologizes.

"Don't worry, it's alright" Julia is actually freaking out in her head about Ribbon Girl saying her name out loud. The three head to the elevator and go down to Max's office. The rest of the men stay on the roof.

"Check out this view boys!" Max motions them all to the edge of the tower, "Isn't it something?"

Andy does not go anywhere near them, "Sure is" Damien turns and looks at Andy.

"Come on blue-head, take a look!" Damien orders.

"I-I'm fine-" Suddenly, Damien shoots out his arm and grabs Andy by the collar and drags him to the edge of the building. He wraps his arm around Andy's shoulders like a snake getting it's prey.

"Just take it all in, my man" Damien shakes Andy around. He is absolutely terrified.

"AHHHHHYEEEEEP MHM" Andy tries very hard to free himself from Damien's arm.

"Just feel that breeze on the back of your neck" Damien sucks a big breath in and lets it all out.

"That's the blob guy" Andy says. Damien turns around to see Helix right up to his neck breathing very hard.

"Habalaba?"

* * *

The three girls find the VIP bathroom with the help of Debbie and are amazed by what they find. "This is a bathroom?" Kaitlyn asks. It was enormous. The walls were made of gold and it had a red carpet running through the middle. soft Jazz music played over an intercom.

"There is a sink in every stall" Minako points out. Each stall was equipped with a cushioned toilet, a sink, and even the paper towel and soap. The mirrors above the sink had lights around the edges. It looked like no one has ever touched it, like a long lost artifact, which is probably due to all the maids being robots, including Debbie. The three continue when hey reach the next part of the bathroom: A legit dressing room with an clear glass revolving door at the entrance. "This is insane!" Minako says. Humming can be heard from the other side of the door.

Minako and Kaitlyn walk through to see, sitting on a cushioned chair facing a mirror with a desk of makeup in front of them, was Chevette Aubertin, brushing her long silver locks with a bedazzled brush. "Who is it?" Chevette asks.

"Uh, so you're Chevette, right?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Indeed, and you are?" Aubertin turns to see the two, "Well, my goodness, it's Ribbon Girl and Miss Butt-kicker herself in the flesh!"

"Hi" Minako waves her hand.

"What is she doing back there?" Chevette looks towards the revolving door, where Julia has been running around in circles playing with it. Julia hops out and joins the group.

"Sorry, I have to do that every time I see one of those," Julia explains, ".. I made a pack with myself"

"It seems you already know who I am. Please, delight me with you names" Chevette orders.

"Oh! My name is Kaitlyn, but most people know me by Ribbon Girl"

"Well, I will know you by Kaitlyn. I hate those silly names they give us" Chevette rants.

Kaitlyn looks a tad bit confused. "What do you mean?"

"I was Twintelle 20 years ago, but that does not mean I am still her now. I just do not enjoy it when someone calls me that name, like, I am not that brat anymore" Chevette has a hard French accent that accompanies her speech.

"I get that" Kaitlyn agrees.

"Now I'm just a taller, more beautiful brat"

"Yes you are!" Kaitlyn says. Chevette looks at her funny, ".. Wait, no, I meant-"

Chevette laughs very hard as Kaitlyn blushes. Even her laugh is pretty, unlike Damien's from before. The movie star grabs her teacup that was sitting on the table and takes a sip, "And what about you?"

Minako tenses up, "I-I'm Minako-"

"THIS HERE is the best noodle cooking, karate kicking, funny bone tickling girl you will ever meet! It's Min Min!" Kaitlyn introduces.

"ssssstoooop" Minako pleads under her breath.

"My, sounds like a good time. And you, small one?" Chevette asks.

"Rachel McFumblenugget. 32. I have 5 cats" Julia explains.

"Oh, really? What are their names?" Chevette says.

"Ralph, Rolph, Relph, Ryulph, and Rudolph" Julia says with no hesitation.

"That's Julia" Kaitlyn corrects.

"Howdy" Julia greets.

"So, are you three here for the auditions? I would presume that since Maxy doesn't let just anyone in here"

 _Maxy?_ Kaitlyn thinks, "Uh, we're actually here because Mr. Brass told us to come check on you. Said you take forever to get ready"

"Well, you can tell him I'm ready when I'm ready" Chevette lets go of the brush and grabs some lipstick. The odd thing was the brush continued to brush her hair without her hands. The three were very confused until they saw that the hair was brushing itself. Although they were told about the hair having the magical ability, it was something else to witness it for there very own eyes. Chevette puts down the makeup and grabs the brush from her hair, "I guess I may have been in here a little too long, but can you blame me?"

"Nada," Julia says, "This is the best looking crap-house I've ever seen!"

Chevette was not ready for Julia's way of speaking, "Uh, let's just head out, shall we?" Chevette stands up, towering over the three girls with her height. Her silver locks look like they are taller in height than Julia. The four head for the exit, Julia once again playing with the revolving door as they pass it.

Once the group of girls get back to the rest, Max explains how it is time for the auditions to begin. He leads them down a few complicated hallways and stairs until it looks as though they are in some prison, the walls white and made of cement bricks. Max opens up a door that reads 'TARGET SHOOTING' and lets everyone in, one by one.

Inside is a very odd sight. They walk into a room with a giant window with a door off to the side of it. On the other side of the window is a strange looking metal field lined with long cracks that may hold something inside. Max steps to the front, "Here is how this little shindig works. Back in my day, we had to prove ourselves by punching trees for hours, but with technological advancement- phew, that's a word right there- we can do this" Max presses a button and a ton of targets appear on the other side of the mirror. Some are stationary, some are going up and down and left and right, some a disappearing, and then there is one just flying across the stage like a maniac.

"These are your targets. They represent y'all's opponent. You have two minutes to break as many targets as you can. You will then be ranked based off the score you gained from the two minutes. The harder the target is to hit, the more points ya' get. Got it?"

Kaitlyn raises her hand, "Why are we being ranked?"

"'Cause, it will show who the best ones are in here," Max gets a bit closer to Kaitlyn, ".. And show who shouldn't be here at all"

 _Aaaand the pressure it back on,_ Kaitlyn thinks in her head. Max turns to the rest of the group. "So, who wants to start us out?"

"Let's get it!" Maibe smack his fist together and walks forward, "Imma show all of you how the King of ARMS does it!"

"The King, aye? Don't you know who you're talking to?" Brass knocks on his armor made of melted golden championship belts.

"Hey, you may be the King now, but I haven't been dethroned for a thousand years pal" Maibe explains.

"You've been dead" Byte yells.

"Shut it, headache" Maibe stumbles with the door but eventually realizes it's pull- not push, and gets ready.

"Alright, aaaaand... BEGIN!" Max presses a button and targets fly upward. Maibe starts pounding away at the targets at first easily, but then they start moving on him.

"Wait, why are they moving?" Maibe tries to hit on target, but it dodges out of the way.

"Your opponent is going to be moving, 'King'" Max Brass gloats as Maibe growls at the targets. He throws out punch after punch but completely misses every single one. The giant hands of the mummy slug down and try to pound on any target, but they either disappear or slightly move to the left.

"Oh, come on!" Maibe grabs one of the targets and tries to pull it off it's stand with all his force, but it does not budge and instead pulls Maibe on to the stage as it gets sucked back into the ground. Now the mummy is in the middle of the target. "Wait-" A target comes out of nowhere and uppercuts Maibe in the chin. He bounces back and stomps his foot on the ground to stop from falling. With a chilling roar, Maibe begins to punch in every single direction he can, hitting some targets along the way. He also gets hit by some moving targets while doing so. At the last second, only one target stands, and Maibe jumps in the air to land on it. It disappears as the timer runs out and Maibe lands on his face.

"Boy, that was pitiful" Max says. Maibe gets up with the biggest look of anger he has ever had since he arrived and starts pounding his large fists at the floor of the stage. Surprisingly, it does not leave a dent.

Maibe exits the stage and barges out of the room and into the hallway, pushing everyone out of his path in the process. ".. Maybe I should go talk to him" Kaitlyn tells Min Min. The young pop singer tells her bodyguards to stay put as she exits out to the hallway.

Max writes down the score on his clipboard and walks casually back into the room, "Who's next?"

"I will" Chevette speaks up. She grabs her teacup and enters the arena, Max smiling as he holds the door for her.

Out in the hallway, Kaitlyn chases down Maibe, "Hey, wait up!" She finally catches the giant who has been stomping down the hallway furiously. "You ok?"

"NO, I'M NOT 'OK'! THAT WAS THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING I'VE EVER DONE!" Maibe yells.

"Even more than the time when you fell in elephant poo?" Kaitlyn is referring to one of the many stories Maibe told them in the interrogation room.

"HUAGH!" Maibe roars as he punches the wall. The wall is completely unharmed and Maibe holds his hand in pain, "AHHH! PAIN IS FOR THE WEAK!"

Kaitlyn puts her small hand on Maibe's shoulder, "Listen, it's all gonna be fine Maibe-"

"No it's not! Ever since I woke up from that tiny box, I have done nothing but lose! Your friend destroyed me in my first fight, and now I can't hit a dang food plate! I was the best in Egypt, dang it!"

Kaitlyn thinks about what to say. She realizes she has been in this situation before, so maybe she can use what she said then now, "Listen, Maibe, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. What matters is that you're doing what you love"

"But I want to win! That's the whole point of the sport!" Maibe angrily says, holding his hand still.

"Someone who would say that wouldn't break their hand after hitting a WALL, now would they? That's not being a sore loser, it's called passion! If there is a few missteps along the way, who cares?" Kaitlyn explains.

".. I do.." Maibe mumbles.

"We've all had our bad days. Did you know that I actually forgot the lyrics one time to one of my own songs? That was embarrassing" Kaitlyn says, "But, you know what? I'm still here. And so are you"

".. Heh, you sound like my wife" Maibe grins.

"Then I'm sure your wife was a pretty smart lady then" Kaitlyn giggles.

Maibe looks down at his hand, then at his wrappings, ".. I miss them. Kushar, the kids.. They're long gone now" He explains, ".. This caligraphy on my wrappings. They're from my wife. She must've wrote it when I was buried"

"What do they say?" Kaitlyn asks. She stares that the writing. It appears to be a faded pink now after all the years of being dried up.

".. 'We will meet again'" The two fall silent.

"I bet she was an amazing person, huh?" Kaitlyn asks.

"She was. I'm not sure if she was smart though. I mean, she married me" Maibe smirks.

"Oh, shucks" Kaitlyn giggles.

Maibe turns to look at Kaitlyn, "I'm sorry about what I did"

 _Holy cow, he actually said it!_ Kaitlyn thinks. "It's alright. We are cool now.. I forgive you. Grudges are annoying to hold anyway"

"I still want my money from Tut" Maibe explains.

"You know, they did find his tomb a while back"

"Wait, what?" Maibe's eyes widen.

"Yep. They took all his gold and put it in a museum" Kaitlyn says.

Maibe looks as though he went back to his original self, "Boy, that's my money! DANG IT!" He growls.

Kaitlyn smiles, "Come on, let's go watch everyone else do this target thing" Maibe nods his head, still thinking about the Tut situation, and they both head back to the watch room. "Besides, that target shooting looks hard. I doubt anyone will be good at it-" As they walk in, they see Chevette casually sipping tea, facing the opposite direction, with her locks hitting every single target at the speed of light easily. Both Kaitlyn and Maibe's jaws drop.

"And time! That was amazing!" Max writes down the incredibly high score on the clipboard.

"Eh, I'm sure I could do better" Chevette tells him.

"I'm sure you could have" Max smiles again, "Now, next!"

And so, one by one, each ARMS fighter wannabe goes up to audition in front of Max Brass. He writes down each other their scores on a clipboard that- of course- is made of brass.

The next one up is Minako. Although she could not kick the targets, which was her specialty due to her training in Karate, she does very well shooting out her extendable arms and hitting the targets. "Woohoo, good job Min Min!" Kaitlyn yells. Whenever Minako fights, she appears to be in another state, so she does not hear Kaitlyn or any of the others.

Naoto studies how she moved across the stage. Her hours of training was very apparent to him, like when you see someone from the army at the gym. It's their element, their dojo. With the way Minako moves, she is definitely a worthy opponent in Naoto's eyes. He zones out while staring at her that he doesn't hear Julia trying to talk to him.

"Naoto! Close your mouth, you're gonna start drooling" Julia tells him.

"What?" Naoto snaps out of it and looks at Julia. He is sitting on a table with his legs crossed beside Damien. On the floor beside him is Mechanica.

Julia turns and sees Minako, "Man, she is good, huh?"

"Yes she is" Naoto agrees. Minako finishes with a good score; probably not as good as Chevette's.

Next is Andy, who seems very clumsy on the stage. It takes him a minute to see a target and realize to throw a punch at it before it disappears, so he keeps on missing. He does get in the groove halfway through, saving his score from being one on the bottoms. The perfect word to describe his audition was, 'passable'.

Kaitlyn finishes off the trio by going next. She has no idea what she is doing. Kaitlyn misses every single target and when she does hit one, it does not break.

"Harder Kate!" Minako yells.

"I'm trying Min Min. AH!" A target shoots up in front of her, scaring her half to death. She punches it with her fists like a machine gun, but it still does not break. Maibe is watching carefully not saying a word, but inside he is hoping she can do it.

"Warrior spirit!" Maibe yells. Kaitlyn thinks back to the concert; A giant man barging in, attacking innocent people, ruining her concert. She suddenly gets a boost of adrenaline that fuels her punches, sending her arms outward to break a few of the targets, "Yeah! There it is! Haha!" Maibe cheers. When Kaitlyn hears him cheer, the story in her head changes; A confused man coming in to accidentally attack two kids who were fine afterwards who felt so bad that he apologized and cleaned the entire theatre. With that, Kaitlyn's warrior spirit fades, and her punches become weaker as the time runs out.

"Hmm.." Max turns to his clipboard to write something down. He then circles it. Kaitlyn slowly walks back to the watch room, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Hey" Maibe goes towards her, "We all have our missteps" He holds out his fist to her. Kaitlyn smiles and fist pumps the big mummy.

".. Did I miss something?" Byte and Barq look at Maibe, very confused.

Next up is Byte and Barq. They do very good, repeatedly shouting, "SPEEDING TICKET. SPEEDING TICKET. SPEEDING TICKET" As they punch the targets. Barq also sends a few punches out with a extra hand that comes out of his mouth. It is quite terrifying.

Then, now mentally prepared, Naoto enters the stage. He does not miss a single target. Everyone, including Max himself, watch in awe as Naoto lands a hit on every bullseye, shattering the target into little pieces in the blink of an eye. For a moment you could not even see the targets by how fast he destroyed them. Julia watched with her wide child-like eyes, knowing that her 'big brother' was going to ace this.

"NAOTO! WOOHOO!" Julia yells in excitement.

"He's good" Chevette tells Damien.

Damien watches the ninja carefully, "Sure, but we will see how he does when the targets punch back" He hisses. Naoto finishes with an almost perfect score; the only reason it was not perfect was due to the time running out before he can get the last few that popped up.

"Shoot man, that was awesome!" Max says.

"Thank you" Naoto says back.

"I'm up next" Damien hops off the table and goes towards the door. He knocks Naoto out of the way with his shoulder as Naoto enters the watch room. The ninja wonders what that was about, but does not let it get to him.

"Ready Cobra?" Max asks.

"Heck yeah" Damien hisses. Max presses the button and the targets fly up as the odd snake man starts going at the speed Naoto was doing. The ninja crosses his arms and watches carefully as Damien unleashes an onslaught of punches to the targets.

"Man big bro, you got some competition, huh?" Julia tells him, nudging his chain arm. Naoto does not respond as he watches Kid Cobra.

As Damien continues his assault, he sends his left arm out to the right and his right arm to the left. When he brings them back, they accidentally get tangled up, "What the?" Damien quickly undoes his arms and tries to get back into the game, but he missed so many targets in that short amount of time. The timer runs out before he can finish.

Max writes something on his clipboard, "That was pretty good Dam-"

"What place am I in?" Damien asks forcefully.

"Uh.. You'll find out once we are done-"

"No, tell me now, I need to know" Damien accent makes his ranting harder to understand.

Max looks down at the paper, ".. 2nd place" Damien's eyes widen, which then turns to them being angry. He pushes the door open and sits down, not looking at anybody but Naoto. The ninja stares back as Julia is celebrating for the implication of her 'brother' winning.

"Alright, uh, Blob man, come on up" Max says. Helix looks very confused as the scientists open the door to the other side of the window. Maybe because it reminds him of somewhere else.

"Come on Helix, it will be fun" The older scientist tells his creation. Helix slowly walks on to the stage.

Max gets the button ready, "Aaaand.. Start!"

"Waka?" Helix looks confused.

"Come on, dude, time is running," Max says. The scientists look worried, "Yo! Why are you just standing there?"

"Blabafaba!" Helix yells.

 _"GO!"_ Max yells.

Suddenly, Helix's eyes go from the bright yellow to a devilish red as he begins to maliciously hit every single target. The scientists look relieved as the rest of the competitors watch Helix destroy every single target. With the wasted time however, Helix runs out real quick and the timer goes off.

"Boy, you had a bumpy start, but you made up for it, huh blob man?" Max is writing something down on his clipboard, not paying attention to anything else.

Helix's eyes are still red.

The blob turns to face Max with an evil intent in his head. "Bloooga" Helix winds up his arm, ready to punch Max Brass.

 _Oh no, oh no!_ The scientists think as they barge in. The young scientist speaks up, "He sure did make up for the TIME he lost!"

Helix's eyes go back to yellow, and he brings his arm down while also looking clueless as to what just happened.

"He sure did. Now, there is only one person left. Come on down Julia!" Max Brass motions her as The scientists swiftly bring Helix back into the watch room before anyone can ask anything. Julia takes in a deep breath.

"You got this Julia, I know you do" Naoto whispers as Max waits impatiently.

"Thank you big bro," Julia hops into Mechanica, "Let's do this" Everyone watches in amazement as The giant robot begins to walk forward towards the door, making everyone look tiny compared to her. It gets stuck on the doorway.

After a little fidgeting, Julia finally gets Mechanica out of the door and on to the stage. Max looks unamused, "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" Julia prepares the robot as the timer starts. Julia starts out very decent, hitting the targets with Mechanica's long claws. Julia punches, Mechanica punches. Halfway through, however, Mechanica's left arm starts to malfunction. "What? No, no, no"

"Is something wrong Ms. Laymor?" Max Brass crosses his arms.

"Uh, uh, yeah-" As Julia tries to fix the machine, Mechanica's lights go off and shuts down, "No! Come on!"

"Oh no.." Kaitlyn says. Naoto has a very worried look on his face.

Time continues to go down as Julia tries to start Mechanica back up again. With half of the time gone, Julia decides to give up with the foreshadowing of tears in her eyes. ".. I-I'm sorry Mr. Brass"

Max Brass does not seem surprised, "It's alright. Come on and hop down and-" Without warning, Mechanica starts back up. Julia looks, astonished by Mechanica's random switch back on.

"Yes!" Julia grabs her controllers and begins to move, but Mechanica does not follow. "Uh, what's going on? She's not moving with me" Mechanica begins to run around freely, ".. Uh oh"

The arms of Mechanica spring out, hitting targets left and right while running on to the stage. The weight of the robots feet smashes other targets as the hands go haywire. Julia tries to stop the robot as the arms spin uncontrollably fast. Max Brass ducks down to avoid being hit. Every singly target is hit when the timer finally runs out, but the robot keeps on going.

"Stop! Mechanica! I command you to stop!" Julia yells, for the first time legitimately angry at her creation. The robot suddenly grabs Julia and throws her off on to the ground.

"Julia!" Naoto rushes into the stage and towards the little girl. Julia gets up and gives out the biggest war-cry she has ever given.

"MECHANICA, STOP RIGHT NOW!" The robot swings it's claws at Julia, who then surprisingly catches one, somehow stopping all the force it had. Max watches as Julia ties the arm of Mechanica in a knot, making it unusable, and heads for the main body. Naoto grabs the other claw as She hops back into the opening and opens her controller's back and fixes some things, Julia then swings her arms up in the air. Mechanica does the same, with Naoto letting go of the claw as he sees Julia take back control. The little girl then unleashes punches into the air fit for a ARMS fighter. Max Brass finally gets back up as he watches Mechanica jump and punch like a pro.

"Ok, ok. I think she's good now" Julia sighs.

"That was awesome!" Maibe yells. Everyone gives him a look, "What?"

Max Brass walks over to Julia with an unreadable face, ".. I'm sorry Mr. Brass. I don't know what happened"

"I think it would be best if you went to the watch room" Max tells her. Julia nods as she walks Mechanica back into the group along side Naoto while Max Brass stares at the clipboard, analyzing the results.

He continues to stand there as if he was a statue. It is quite impressive to everyone, who knew someone like him could have such a deep thought process. Max then begins to move as he writes one last thing on the clipboard and heads to the watch room.

Max opens the door and places the clipboard on top of an odd device that scans it. A huge monitor replaces the window.

".. Well?" Maibe asks.

"Here are the results" Max says. The monitor shows the word '1ST' with a blank beside it. "In 1st place is.. Naoto Uchiyama" His name appears on screen. It was not a surprise to anyone, but they all cheer except Damien. Julia cheers the most.

"2nd place.. Damien Floyd. 3rd place.. Julia Laymor. 4th place.. Chevette Aubertin-"

"WAIT, WHAT?" Julia yells when she sees the results.

"Yeah, what?" Chevette also says.

Max smiles, "You scored higher in the last few seconds than Chevette. Congrats"

Julia looks like she is about to fall over, "Naoto.. Naoto.. NAOTO! I GOT THIRD PLACE!" She gives Naoto the biggest hug she has ever given.

"Good job kid. I knew you would do just fine" Naoto pats her back. Chevette looks very unamused.

"5th place.. Minako Sobawata. 6th place.. Helix. 7th place.. Byte and Barq. 8th place.. Andy Shurbak"

"Ha!" Byte laughs, "I beat you Shurbak!"

"You do realize we both lost to a blob, right?" Andy smirks.

"Googoobaba" Helix appears in front of Byte.

"DAH!" Byte jumps backwards, making Andy laugh.

Max continues, "9th place.. Maibe. And 10th place.. Kaitlyn Pleat"

"Yikes.." Kaitlyn cringes at the sight of the board. Minako pats her friend's back as Maibe steps a bit closer to Kaitlyn. "So, I'm out, huh?"

"You all passed" Max says.

Kaitlyn shoots up, "What did you say?"

"You all passed. Congratulations. Welcome to the ARMS Grand Prix everyone!"

* * *

It's been about 30 minutes since Max announced everyone passed the auditions. Now it was time for the hard part: Nicknames.

"I want to be called 'King Maibe: The Greatest Pharaoh of all Time!" Maibe orders.

"That's not a nickname!" Max Brass says. All of the gang is in Max's office trying to decide on nicknames, because every ARMS fighter needs a nickname. They decided that Damien stays as Kid Cobra, Kaitlyn is Ribbon Girl, and Chevette, reluctantly, stays with Twintelle. Helix and Byte keep their names due to theirs being not boring. The rest, however, is indecisive.

"Why do we need nicknames anyway?" Andy asks.

Max rubs in between his eyes, "Because, no one is going to want to watch 'Andy Surfback' or whatever vs 'Maxwell Jackson'. Nicknames sell. That's why i was given the name 'Max Brass'. That is a way better selling name!"

Julia speaks up, "Like MJ Shizz-"

"Don't"

Andy thinks for a moment if he has ever been called a nickname before, ".. I was called Spring Man one time"

Max's face brightens up, "Oooh, Spring Man. I like it-"

"Spring BOY!" Maibe fixes.

"Spring MAN!" Andy corrects. This was referring to how Andy is still a boy back when they talked in the police station.

".. Spring boy.." Maibe gives off a grin.

"Now, we got to think of something for you" Max points to Maibe, "And we are not doing that name that's as long as a sandworm on a hot day"

"What?" Kaitlyn whispers to Minako.

"Tell me, Maibe, where did you come from?" Max asks.

".. Well, if you must know, I-"

"He woke up in Master Hampton Cemetery. Do not got further than that, please" Byte interrupts.

Max thinks for a moment, "Mummy.. Master Hampton... MASTER MUMMY!"

"That sounds stupid" Maibe says.

"Oh, COME ON! It fits ya' perfectly!" Max yells. He is using every ounce of his creativeness in this process.

"Actually, that is a good name" Kaitlyn brings up.

"Yeah, it is. Master Mummy" Minako says.

Maibe sighs. ".. Fine. My original nickname will still be considered though"

"No it won't," Max turns his attention away, "You, Minako, give me your best nickname"

"Min Min" Minako instantly says. Kaitlyn gives a giant smile to her friend.

"Aww, really?" Kaitlyn asks.

"I like it. A lot" Minako replies.

"Ok, that sounds stupid but I'm fine with it cause I'msosickofthisnicknamecrap- YOU. 1st place. Got a name?" Max turns to Naoto.

Naoto stares blankly at Max. He is not good at being creative on the spot. Heck, the tree he made out of metal took him a few days. "Uh.."

"Well, he's a ninja" Julia helps him out.

Max makes the gears in his head turn faster than they ever have, "Ninja... Ninjaraaa.. NINJARA! How's that?"

"Sure" Naoto, or Ninjara, did not honestly care what name he got, but he is happy it has something to do with him being a ninja.

"And you, Julia. Name?" Max ends it with her once again.

"Oh, uhm," Julia thinks for a moment, "Well, technically I'm not the one fighting, Mechanica is. So we should use her name, right?"

"'Mechanica'.." Max thinks hard on it, "That'll do! So, we are now officially ready to get this thing popping! Y'all ready?"

Everyone cheers, scaring Helix. "WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH" Helix yells.

"Now, I have a little surprise for you. Everyone, to the elevator!" Max motions the group to follow him. All of them look down to the bottom of the tower with the window of the elevator where they see a humongous group of people at the entrance.

"Uh, who are those people Mr. Brass?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Well," Max stretches, "I may have leaked the news that all of you guys passed.. And I may have contacted all you're friends and family in the process.."

The group quickly exits the elevator and to the entrance of the tower where they are all met with cheers from hundreds of people in the parking lot, even leading to the road. "This is just a portion of the people. The rest are watching on the news" Max points to the camera from a big news channel.

Max Brass goes to a podium that was set up for him by Debbie where he officially announces the return of the ARMS Grand Prix as the gang soon realizes all their friends are in the crowd.

"Father!" Minako yells as she sees her entire family. Her small dad, along with the rest of the family, runs up and hugs her.

"You did it! You did it!" They yell. Kaitlyn sees her tour bus and leaves Minako to be with her family.

"Hey Dave!" Kaitlyn says, seeing the short man with glasses and a headset.

"Congrats on getting in girl. We brought someone for you" Dave points to the bus where two figures come out.

Kaitlyn's eyes light up, "Mom! Dad!"

Andy watches Max do his speech until he feels someone tap his shoulder, he turns around and looks down, "B! Wassup man!"

Billy, or B, is there beside him, "Yo, what the heck man? Last time I saw you, you were, like, dead, and now you're a big ol' celebrity"

"Yeah, I have no idea what happened myself" Andy laughs.

"Let me tell you though," B leans in close, "You don't realize how many chicks I've been hangin' out with since you left. You made me a celeb too!"

"Of course that's what you care about" Andy rolls his eyes and smiles.

Two females in a police uniform walks towards Byte and Barq, "Well, you two made it. Congrats" Radcliffe tells them. She's with Officer Annie as well.

"Thank you! I will try my best to win this for the academy I did not attend!" Byte says.

"That's the spirit big pal" Radcliffe grins.

"BARQ"

A humongous paparazzi surrounds Chevette, asking questions and wishing her good luck. "I would like to thank every single fan of mine from America and from France. I wouldn't be here without you all!"

Suddenly, Damien hops into the middle of the paparazzi where Chevette is. He's streaming of course, "And here is the baddest girl on the street, Chevette! Wassah'"

"Wassah'" Chevette playfully answers back.

"Oh my gosh, look at that thing! It's so cute!" A group of girls are watching Helix run around and be 'cute'. "I want one!"

The younger scientist whispers to the other one, "Heh, we should give her one of the original subjects if she wants one"

The older one laughs, "Which one were you thinking?"

"H17-IX"

"Oh, you are despicable" They both laugh.

Naoto holds on to Julia's hand as they walk through the crowd so they do not lose each other when Naoto spots a group of funny looking individuals, "Reggie! Al! Takeshi!"

The three ninjas from the university silently run towards Naoto. Reggie speaks up, "Hey, you finally hit the big time, huh?" They all have different colored hair and are dressed in all black.

"Yes. I sure did. You guys came all the way from Rasen?" Naoto asks.

"Well, when we heard you made it, we had to come.. directly to you" Reggie says smiling.

"Who is this? You never really introduced us to her" Takeshi says, pointing to Julia, who is holding on to Naoto's hand.

"This is Julia.. my 'little sister'" Naoto says very quickly so no one can hear. Julia did however, and her face lights up with happiness.

With the crowd all focused on the nine individuals, there is one that is being unnoticed. That one would be Maibe. He looks at Kaitlyn with her parents, and then Minako with her family. Maibe then looks at the wrapping on his arms.

"Well, I did it Kushar.. We did it" Maibe says, all by himself. Then, out of nowhere, a noise is heard from behind him that makes him have a giant grin when he hears it.

"Meow"

* * *

 **END OF PART 1: RESURRECTION**

* * *

 **STARTING PART 2: FORGIVENESS**

* * *

 **IT'S TIME FOR THE RAD RETURN OF THE GRAND PRIX! HERE ARE YOUR FIGHTERS:**

 **THE BOUNCER, SPRING MAN**

 **THE AIRESS, RIBBON GIRL**

 **THE STUDENT OF STEALTH, NINJARA**

 **THE GRIM CREEPER, MASTER MUMMY**

 **THE RAMEN BOMBER, MIN MIN**

 **THE SCRAPYARD SCRAPPER, MECHANICA**

 **THE SILVER SCREEN QUEEN, TWINTELLE**

 **THE CLOCKWORK COPS, BYTE & BARQ**

 **THE SPEED DEMON, KID COBRA**

 **THE "MAN" OF MYSTERY, HELIX**

* * *

 **Man, I finished it. This chapter has been on my mind to get done since I finished the last one. One thing I realized as I wrote this was that, even though they are not technically my characters and the originals are very one-dimensional, I made it to where they ARE my own characters, and I forgot how fun it was to write for them. Nintendo may have Master Mummy, but I have Maibe. They have Min Min, I have Minako. Making this chapter made me see how much I enjoy my very own characters. Like, Master Mummy does not have a pet cat, but Maibe sure does! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one is the start of a brand new story arc, as we FINALLY got all 10 characters in, and all it took was 6 super long chapters. So, please leave a review of what you think and thank you so much for sticking with my story!**


	7. PART 2: To Lose Someone Close

**Howdy.**

* * *

"As of now, I am re-opening the ARMS Grand Prix to anyone," Max Brass heroically announces to the world, "This sport has been dormant like a volcano, and it's about to burst back onto the scene, baby!"

A group of people stand idly, fully barricading the sidewalk they are on, watching the many televisions that are in view in a window display, all of which are showing the interview of Max Brass and his announcement of the return of the Grand Prix, the lost sport now reemerging, as if it were a phoenix rising from the ashes. All the people begin to talk to each other about the sport and their doubts on its return, but also their excitement for it.

There is one person in the group bearing a red and blue hoodie, however, who does not seem to be talking to anyone else, but is rather watching the television program very carefully, their face hidden in the shadows of their hood. That person then makes a hard turn and runs right through the crowd, pushing people out of the way.

"Hey, watch it, pal!" One pedestrian yells as the figure rushes out and begins a hard jog down the sidewalk. As they run, their sleeve begins to slide down their arm, revealing an ancient bracelet with strange foreign carvings surrounding a shape that resembles a wisp-like creature.

When Max Brass did that interview and announced the Grand Prix in the midst of the Ribbon Girl concert incident, it may have only appeared to have affected the people nearby. The ten people who signed up for it were either residents of the city Brass Tower is located at or lived very close to it. But this could be farther from the truth, as Max's words were heard all over the world. It also reached places no one knew even existed.

A couple of days later, that same ominous person from the window display who ran off afterwards appears in a dense jungle, with dark clouds looming above. Their hoodie has been removed, revealing a scrawny dark-skinned individual with jewels hanging from his arms like arm tassels, a gold-plated choker with markings, and a large amount of face paint. They sprint through the trees on their hand-woven boots, resembling caligae, until they reach a clearing with no leaves or bushes facing a large wall of pure rock; the side of a mountain.

The person stands still for a moment, staring at the rock wall. He then stomps his foot down onto the dirt and turns it quickly to produce dust in the air. Using his normal human arms, he begins to make the dust fly all around him as he begins to chant a strange language loudly. He spins, twirls, and does a front flip during what appears to be a ritual. Finally, he ends it with landing on one knee and covering his face with his hands, revealing paint on the back of his hands that looks to be the face of some creature.

As if magically, a tiny slither of the rock wall slides open; an eyehole. An obviously taller figure peers through to see the individual still in the one knee position, panting, as the dust settles. "Xayamba!" The figure that the eyes belong to yells, "Dooya bun fa durango fa loo bomba dos? Beca!"

The individual closes back the eyehole in rage, making the illusion of the rock wall whole again. The other person, who's name appears to be Xayamba, gets up frantically and knocks on the mountain as if it were a door.

"Dodo!" Xayamba yells, "Boolug... Boolug!"

The eyehole slides back open, and Boolug gives Xayamba a stern look, "Booboo bun hevil heela sonia pue falay moo 'city' fa walisp? Beca!" Boolug puts emphasis on 'city', making fun of Xayamba.

Before Boolug can once again shut the eyehole, Xayamba quickly yells, "Arms! Boolug, wahn arms!"

Boolug's eyes widen at the mention of 'arms' and he closes the eyehole. The rock wall begins to light up an aqua blue, and soon a giant door with the same wisp-like creatures engraved on it like Xayamba's bracelet appears out of nowhere. The door swings open, revealing Boolug as a large hulking figure with paint covering his entire body and a golden chain going from his nostril to his ear.

Xayamba enters through the door into a world unlike any other. Instead of the dark clouds like the ones above the jungle, the sky in this world is a bright orange with barely clouds in sight. The ground is paved with colorful stones with nature growing in the cracks. Large towers can be seen in the far distance, the top of them having large carved faces. Another tower has a fist instead. Xayamba and Boolug run through the land towards town, where large stone houses with vines growing on the side of them inhabit the area. One house has a large tree growing on top of it, right beside the waterfall that passes through a moat surrounding the town. A large amount of people reside in the area, including entire families. As the two pass by, they are frequently waved at by the civilians.

Boolug leads Xayamba to a large clearing with a canopy of tree branches above them. Four tall pillars with fists on the top of them stand over the two as they near the temple that houses their ruler. A couple of stairs lead to the front door of the temple, and on these stairs is where Xayamba takes a knee and assumes the position he did earlier with his face being covered by the palms of his hands. Boolug quickly knocks on the door, runs back, and does the same thing as Xayamba.

The temple's door slowly opens seemingly by itself, and darkness is the only thing that appears to be on the other side. Boolug covers his face for a little bit longer until he becomes confused. He then stands up and looks in the darkness, seeing nothing. Boolug grabs a nearby torch and holds it by the door, where a figure stands inches away from him.

Boolug jumps backwards, throwing the torch behind him. He quickly reverts back to his kneeling position, "Misango! La fundashay."

The figure, named Misango, continues to stand in the darkness, waiting. Boolug and Xayamba both kneel without saying a word.

Suddenly, Boolug slaps Xayamba on the back of the head. "Dooya?!" Xayamba yells, but then he remembers why they are there in the first place, "Oh! Misango... wahn arms. Wahn arms bes oofrised."

Although he stands in darkness, Misango's prescense can easily be felt, especially after what Xayamba just said. Misango's voice echoes through the temple. "Arms?"

* * *

 **IT IS TIME.**

* * *

"This sport has been dormant like a volcano, and it's about to burst back onto the scene, baby!"

A street performer with large yellow pants and a big red nose performs her comedy act outside an Italian café, as usual. She uses her long extendable arms to pull of a handstand while juggling, exciting the crowd. Someone in the outdoor portion of the café walks up to the street performer and shows her the Max Brass announcement on their phone.

* * *

 **FOR THE RAD RETURN.**

* * *

"It's time to bring it back, full force. I am humbly funding it myself. Whoever thinks they can come win matches and beat me gets a prize of 500 grand!"

The king of a long lost world sits on his throne beside an entire fleet of guardsmen in an ancient temple, deep in thought. His spring-like arms are admired by the civilians in the temple, who await his response. The faces of the past kings of the Misangans are carved into the walls of the temple, staring at the throne. A strange wisp-like creature floats above him as the king makes his decision.

* * *

 **OF THE GRAND PRIX.**

* * *

"This is the rad return of the Grand Prix!"

In a what-thought-to-be abandoned factory far, far away, a small television monitor plays Max Brass's message. The announcement echoes through the many horrific scientific projects going on at the factory, which is barely functional as all the gas pipes are leaking and shooting out gas all over the entire facility. Large mechanical hands move giant tubes of odd substances from one conveyer belt to the other.

A strange figure stands on top of a raised platform wearing a leather jacket and boots with spikes on the bottom, bearing bright neon green hair that covers one eye and purple lipstick. The figure has extendable arms too, but what separates these from the others is by how incredibly massive they are. They are made of complete metal, including the hands themselves. After watching the interview, she extends her arm across the room and pulls down a lever. This causes two giant gun turrets to point towards the platform, and they both shoot rays of electricity at the figure, causing her metal arms to begin shaking violently. The electricity rampages through her body as if she were constantly being struck by lightning, causing her immense pain. The weird thing, though, is that she is smiling.

The figure begins to levitate off the ground.

* * *

 **PART TWO.**

* * *

"This is the rad return of the Grand Prix!"

The television rewinds.

"This is the rad return of the Grand Prix!"

"There is no booger there." Naoto Uchiyama, a young ninja prodigy and fighting connoisseur, says as he stands beside Kaitlyn Pleat, an ecstatic young girl who lives the life of a famous pop singer, who is sitting down on a rest bench after an hour of training with a towel around her neck. She is holding a television remote and is pointing it at the screen in the top corner of the training room inside Brass Tower.

"What do you mean?" Kaitlyn's voice gets higher than before, if that's even possible, "How do you NOT see that big honkin' thing?!"

Kaitlyn is referring to Max Brass, a retired champion in the once-popular sport of the ARMS Grand Prix turned famous businessman, who, apparently, had a giant booger during the famous interview. "That is not a booger, but a spec on the screen." Naoto states as clear as possible.

"I think he's right, Kate." Minako Sobawata, Kaitlyn's shy best friend who is next in line to take charge of a nearby noodle shop, sits on the training room floor beside Julia Laymor, one of the biggest fans of ARMS who secretly lives in a junkyard with her humongous mechanical masterpiece known as Mechanica, playing with sharp metal junk. You know, how girls do. In the back of the room sits Armando and Ricardo, Kaitlyn's two extremely buff and overprotective bodyguards.

"Mmmmmmmnope," Julia points at the screen, "Thatta big 'en."

Kaitlyn stands up, "Look, you can see it wiggling-"

"Ok, the break is over." Naoto grabs the remote and turns the television off. Kaitlyn lets out a quick 'pfft' from her mouth as she follows the academy-trained ninja back on to the training mat.

It is just a couple of days after the auditions took place; the first day where things have gone slow for once. With the past week or so being so hectic- with Kaitlyn's concert getting trashed by a self-acclaimed Egyptian pharaoh, the announcement of the Grand Prix, the ridiculous sign-up get together at the tower, and the challenging target practice auditions- having a slow day felt good for a change.

On this particular day, Kaitlyn, who was the worst at the auditions, has asked Naoto, who was the best at the auditions, to help her practice and 'level up' as she called it. Julia and Minako, along with Mechanica of course, Julia's giant robot that follows ALMOST all of her commands, came along to see what this training was like. So far, nothing has been accomplished.

"My back huuuuuurts." Kaitlyn says out loud.

"Well, that is one of the side effects to physical activity," Naoto explains, "It is physical, and it is an activity. This is not the time to complain."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just stating fact." Kaitlyn holds on to her lower back as Minako and Julia watch from the sidelines.

"You got this, Kate!" Minako yells, cheering for her best friend since middle school, "... Now, did I do this right?"

Minako holds up a flower that she has constructed with the junk Julia has brought. It is perfectly crafted, with each petal being the same length and height as each other, something almost impossible to do with random sheets of metal. "Ew? What? No, that's garbage!" Julia grabs the flower and throws it away from view.

"I thought so too." Minako says.

"Now, at Julia's Junkstand, we make stuff that people ACTUALLY want. For example," Julia slams down a piece of crafted metal, "... Dinosaur."

Minako stares at the dinosaur made from metal. "... I have been so blind." She quickly grabs a bunch of pieces of metal and begins crafting.

"Yes, Min Min!" Julia cheers, "More! More DINOSAURS!"

As Minako and Julia begin their adventure into the realm of assembling metallic dinosaurs, Kaitlyn suddenly flies over to them and lands on her butt. She would have landed on the dinosaur Julia made if it had not been for Minako to quickly pick it up. This makes the two bodyguards flinch a bit, but Kaitlyn has already shooed off both of them from intervening due to the integrity of a training session.

"Ok, ok, I got it now!" Kaitlyn quickly stands back up, not even acknowledging the two girls playing with metal, as she runs back towards Naoto.

"No, you do not." Naoto restates, again. Kaitlyn, however, continues running towards the ninja with her fists ready.

Kaitlyn quickly shoots out her left arm along with her right at Naoto, as she was told to do, "Jab, jab, uppercu- HUAH!" The ninja ducks underneath both, as if he was dodging bullets in a movie, and quickly throws a punch to Kaitlyn's side, spinning Ribbon Girl in circles. Kaitlyn stops herself, but ends up falling to her knees anyway. "Oh, come one? What did I do wrong there?"

"You left yourself open, letting you become vulnerable at your sides." Naoto explains.

Kaitlyn is confused, as she has done nothing different from the last time she tried to hit her trainer, "How though? I did what you told me."

"I said jab, jab, uppercut," Naoto points his finger towards the sky, his chain arms making the quietest of noise, "Not, 'I am going to throw both hands out at the same time while yelling loudly' jab, jab uppercut. When you spring out both fists back-to-back, you do not have any protection on your body during the recoil period. If you would have only threw one fist and kept the other one with you, then you would have been able to-"

"SURPRISE ATTACK!" Kaitlyn jumps in the air and throws both fists at Naoto. He quickly disappears into a puff of smoke, and Kaitlyn's hands hit the mat. She turns around to see Naoto standing behind Julia.

Julia turns around and immediately jumps back and puts her fists up, "AH! SATAN BEGONE- Oh."

"That was a bad attempt at a surprise attack." Naoto explains.

"Bet! It's just cause you're a ninja guy. I've scared Min Min plenty of times with my trademarked surprise attack!" Kaitlyn turns to Minako, "Tell him."

Naoto looks at Minako, which makes the Asian girl anxious, "... D'uhsure."

"Well, first off," Naoto walks towards Kaitlyn, "You began smiling halfway during my lesson, your eyebrows dropped, you had a large smirk on your face, you nodded at your bodyguard who then nodded back with the same large smirk you had, you slowly rose up from the ground, and, finally, you yelled 'surprise attack' before you did the surprise attack."

"So... You saw it coming?" Kaitlyn asks.

"A mile away." Naoto states. "Now, let me teach you something I believe will be useful for someone of your fighting style: Jujutsu."

"Cook it up and lay it out, chef." Kaitlyn sits down in a criss cross applesauce position on to the mat.

"Jujutsu is one of the close combat forms of taijutsu the shinobi has to learn, which is one of the eighteen disciplines we have to go through in order to consider ourselves acquainted with the arts of ninjutsu." Naoto explains.

"Nerd!" Julia speaks up. Naoto springs his arm out and grabs Julia and places her inside Mechanica, who is in the corner of the room.

"Simply put," Naoto says, "It is the art of using the opponent's force against themselves. Here, try to hit me from this stance." Naoto then gets into a position as if he is about to lunge forward at Kaitlyn.

"... Uhhh..." Kaitlyn throws a measly punch at Naoto's face.

He immediately slaps it out of the way, "Nope."

Kaitlyn thinks for a moment, "How about... THIS!" She then punches Naoto's shoulder. The ninja slaps it away quickly.

"No, that is actually, really, the worst place to punch right now." Naoto looks irritated.

After hard thought, Kaitlyn goes for one more try. She slowly extends her hands towards Naoto, and, with all of her past training flowing through her mind, she places her finger on Naoto's mouth, wiggles it, and goes, "beeblbeeblbeeblbeeblbeeblbeeb."

"Ok, we are done here." Naoto stands back up. Julia is heard in the distance laughing inside Mechanica.

"Wait, what was the answer? Where am I suppose to punch?" Kaitlyn quickly asks.

"I will explain it later," Naoto looks around the training room, "... Do you five want to go get ice cream?"

"Yes!" Kaitlyn cheers.

"TOTALLY!" Julia yells.

"Yeah, sure, sounds good." Minako mutters.

The two bodyguards nod in unison.

With that, the six, including Mechanica, all leave the training room and head out for the nearest ice cream shop. They are not the only people out in the city, though.

* * *

The city. There is a reason why this one in particular is noted as 'the' and not just 'a'. No other place is as busy or as remarkable as this city. Taxis line the roads, carrying passengers to their job or to the nearest coffee shop, because who would ever actually think of driving in a place like this? The sounds continue all day and all night; cars passing by, numerous parties, and the occasional screech from a brave animal. That might be a turn-off for some, but a large amount of people find the noise comforting. Some rather feel like a part of something large than nothing at all.

The city is also known for its many wonders in tourism and in business. Some of what the city has to offer has already been seen, such as the popular Buster Beach, which holds the Miyamoto Silver Theatre that always seems to have the biggest shows playing. It is also the home of the Spring Stadium, the hosting sight for the ARMS Grand Prix that ran during the '80s and '90s, which has been unused for over a decade now. The stadium is now a hotel and has memorabilia on the lobby walls of the forgotten sport of ARMS, such as title belts, costumes, and plenty of pictures. The city also holds the Twintelle Productions Studio, one of the most successful movie companies in the past few years, and the Northwest Anken College, a college where only the best and most intellectual are chosen- most of the time.

One of the largest sights of the city can be seen by simply looking up; nine times out of ten one would probably see the large golden-painted Brass Tower, owned and built by the successful Max Brass. There are even more attractions and, of course, restaurants that can be talked about, but one would have to either live in the city or take a vacation in order to experience them all. While, like any other city, it has pollution problems and has plenty of politicians using it for personal gain, there is no doubt that the city is one of the greatest ever created and built upon, and the city's name is none other than Iwata.

To some, Iwata's sights become the norm and do not excite them as much as it would to a newcomer. An excellent example of this phenomenon is with Officer Radcliffe, a respected member of the IPD- Iwata Police Department- who is driving her cop car to a pizza restaurant after getting a soft-backup call from her assigned Police Android Unit, Officer Byte, who serves as a walking database of criminal records and also unintentionally as a quick-witted joker, and his mechanical dog companion with sunglasses, Barq.

Radcliffe pulls into the parking lot of Etika's Pizza Pie'as, where a strange looking individual with large square hair and a tiny chef's hat looms over the entrance door. Radcliffe walks in to find Byte and Barq standing over a table that belongs to Andy Shurbak, a laidback college kid with silky blue hair, and King Maibe, a large mummified zombie from Ancient Egypt.

"Alright, why'd you drag me off duty into a low budget pizza joint, Byte?" Radcliffe quips at her robot partner.

"Because, these two geniuses have came up with the idea of having a competition where the winner is determined by who can consume the most pizzas." Byte explains.

Radcliffe looks at Andy and Maibe, who are staring each other down intensely before their battle begins, "... So, why am I here?"

"If the fat one goes unconscious, I need you to help me hoist him into the paramedics," Byte looks at Barq and then leans in to whisper into Radcliffe's ear, "And the dog would not be of help because... he's just a head."

"BARQ?!"

"Nothing! Nothing, I didn't say anything." Byte clears his non-existent throat as Barq gives him the stink eye. Imagine that however suits you best.

Andy continues to stare down the mummy, "You know, I've been eating pizzas ever since I was born. You had your first slice this morning. You stand no chance against me, pops."

"That is where you are wrong, boy," Maibe continues to refer to Andy as 'boy', "I, Maibe, have never lost in the battle of eating. I once ate an entire basket of cobras to assert my dominance."

"Meow."

Radcliffe leans over to Byte, "Where'd the cat come from?"

"No idea. Little vermin has been following us all day." Byte is talking about Montu, Maibe's work out partner and now pet, who is sitting beside the mummy in the booth. Byte jokingly referred to how Maibe resembled the cat, with its fur being all white except for a couple of black and brown spots here and there. Just like Maibe with his wrappings and rotting flesh! At the moment Montu is nibbling on a piece of pepperoni.

"We ain't talking about snakes," Andy smirks, "We're talking about pizza."

Maibe leans back, "Bring on the luncheon!"

A chef rushes out of the kitchen holding a large stack of pizza boxes, each one containing a fresh hot pizza. Luckily, the ARMS fighters get the pizza on the house if they agree to advertise Etika's Pizza Pie'as on the first night of the Grand Prix, which will undoubtedly be watched by people all over the country. Byte grabs the stack and the chef hurries back into the kitchen.

"Today will go down in history as one of the worst ideas ever made involving pizza, and I wish I was not here right now and not subjected by my programming to be so," Byte begins his speech, referring to how Byte's assignment is to keep an eye on Maibe, "I mean, seriously, I have no idea how today could get worse, having specifically you two doing this and forcing me-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just start counting down, ya' migraine." Maibe waves his large hand in front of Byte's goggles.

Byte robotically growls, "Three, two, one, stuff your fat faces."

With that, Byte tosses the box onto the table as if he were tossing a piece of meat into a den of piranhas, which perfectly describes how Maibe and Andy dig into the pizza. They are already done in a couple of seconds, forcing Byte to continuously chuck pizza boxes on to the table, who, even without a face, can be seen disgusted by the carnage.

Radcliffe is unimpressed at first, but then slowly goes into jaw-dropping mode, "... What on Earth? How is that even possible?"

"I AM AFRAID FOR MY LIFE AT THE MOMENT!" Byte yells, trying to not get his fingers caught in the crossfire.

"Barq"

"Who are you calling 'baby', mister 'I constantly miss the newspaper'?!" Byte argues with his dog.

As the competition progresses, Radcliffe catches someone outside the restaurant grinding on the railing with a skateboard- or as they would call it, a 'snake'board. "Hey!" Radcliffe says, "You stay here Byte, I'm going to have a word with this fella' outside."

"OK HAVE FUN, AHHHH!"

Radcliffe exits the restaurant and chases down the skateboarder. "Sir! Excuse me, sir."

Damien Floyd, a famous livestreaming skateboarder who goes by 'Kid Cobra' and is leader of the Naja Crew, switches his feet on the skateboard while it is moving to face the officer that is chasing after him. "Wassah'?"

"'Wassah''?" Radcliffe catches up with Damien as he comes to a complete stop, "Wassah' matter with you, huh? You can't grind on other people's property."

Damien looks back at the guardrail of the pizza restaurant where he pulled off that gnarly trick, "Oh, is that what 'dis is about? I thought I was in actual trouble for a sec'."

"You will be if you try pulling off that stunt again." Radcliffe reassures.

"Chill, girl, chill. It's all good." Damien slowly rides the skateboard in circle, not really paying attention to the police officer.

"Do not refer to me as 'girl' if you know what's good for you." Radcliffe comments back.

The sound of the demolishing of slices of pizza and Byte's yelling can be heard in the distance, catching the attention of both Radcliffe and Damien. "Look," Radcliffe points at the strange masked figure, "Just don't do it again, or it won't be so 'chill' next time."

Damien puts his hands in the air and rolls back his skateboard as the police officer returns to the scene in the restaurant.

"I handled the situation- Oh, dear lord." Radcliffe looks at the surrounding area around the table: Pizza boxes, crumbs, and cheese are everywhere, and Andy and Maibe are still nowhere near done.

"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!" Byte yells to everyone who let this happen.

Radcliffe walks over the table, taking off her hat and running her hand through her hair in the process. "Look, call me back if you need me, but I need to get back to the station. Come find me there once you're done for the day; I have something important to discuss with you and Barq. Got it, Byte?"

"MHM, OK, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, ALREADY HAVE IT SCHEDULED, BYE, AHHH!" Byte lets out a goodbye screech as Radcliffe shakes her head and exits the restaurant. She smiles as the door closes behind her and she gets into her cop car.

* * *

Damien continues to skate down the sidewalk of one of Iwata's many food divisions, frightening people as he passes by them and continuing to grind on guardrails, despite the confrontation that just took place. That is how one shows their rebellious nature; a cop tells you to stop, you say you will not do it again, and then immediately do it again.

Speaking of police officers, Damien looks behind him to make sure that the female cop he saw earlier was nowhere in sight. He then comes to a complete stop- while on a downhill slope, somehow- and picks up his 'snake'board. "Coast is clear, my man."

Sticking to the bottom of the skateboard like gum underneath a desk is a blob of bright green ooze. The blob, however, begins to move, and it seemingly jumps and drips to the ground, falling off the skateboard. Two eyes and a strange mouth are produced, and a familiar figure begins to reform from the ooze. That familiar figure was Helix, a sentient blobby science project that speaks in pure gibberish.

"Hoobabla?" Helix makes a noise out of his mouth.

"Ha HA!" Damien laughs, "You crack me up, man. Come on, I'll race ya'. First one to hit that parked car wins!"

Damien points down to a car at the end of the road that is innocently parked. "GAAAWWW!" Helix agrees.

With that, Damien jumps back on to his skateboard and rides down the sidewalk and Helix begins to run as fast as he can on his stubby feet. The terrifying part about it was that the blob could keep up; apparently he was really fast.

"wooooOOOOOOOOOAAAAAHHH!" Helix screams as he kicks it into high gear.

As Damien rides past the restaurant, one catches his different colored eyes: An ice cream shop. Not for the ice cream, though, but rather for who was sitting in the outdoor portion of the establishment. "Well, would you look at that." Damien kicks his skateboard up and comes to a stop while Helix continues to book it towards the car, not giving up the race.

Julia, at the ice cream shop, slams down her hard candy-filled milkshake onto the table, "Aliens! What do you guys think?"

The four sat together at one table, Naoto and Julia on one side, Kaitlyn and Minako on the other, and Armando and Ricardo standing a couple of feet away, but still looming near Kaitlyn. Mechanica was parked in the parking lot between two cars. While Naoto did not order anything, he did buy all the girls and two buff men a treat; Julia with her milkshake full of candy, Kaitlyn with a bowl of strawberry ice cream, Armando and Ricardo with blueberry popsicles, and Minako with a normal vanilla cone.

'Aliens' was one of the topics Julia frequently brought up with Naoto back at the restaurant where they met. Naoto gives the answer that he always gives, "There is no such thing as aliens."

"That's what they want you to think, big bro!" Julia explains.

Minako thinks for a moment, "... I never thought of it that way before."

"See? See?" Julia has been dropping her 'knowledge' to Minako since they have met.

"Aliens do not exist because there is no other planet that can sustain life." Naoto gives his point.

"And who told you that nonsense?" Julia asks.

"Him." Naoto points to the sun.

Julia looks up at the giant ball of light, "YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES-"

"Do not look at the sun!" Naoto quickly grabs Julia and brings her head down.

Julia averts her eyes, but then looks up at the bodyguards. "You! What do you think?"

"Yes." Armando says.

"No." Ricardo says. They both go back to their popsicles.

"... Well put argument there, guys." Julia says sarcastically.

"Well," Kaitlyn puts her opinion out there, "While aliens are probably fake, it's fun to imagine they're real. Like Santa Claus."

"That is fair." Naoto agrees.

"... What did you say about Santa?" Minako asks.

"Let me tell y'all a secret," Julia ignores Minako's statement and leans into the group, "I don't mean to burst your bubble, Ribbon Girl- though I do mean to burst yours, big bro- but... I've seen one."

"No way!" Minako yells, making the other three jump.

"Shhhh! Keep it down!" Julia puts her finger on Minako's lips, "I don't want the Men in Black to be knocking at my doorstep."

"How'd you see them? Were they small and green or big and scary? It's always either one or the other." Kaitlyn asks.

"Didn't see the alien, but I did see the ship," Julia explains, "I was laying outside on my roof looking up at the stars, when I saw one star moving! It was going pretty slow, but I could tell it was an alien ship because it started blinking lights in a patternistic way- must've been morse! It flew right above me, and I ran back into my garage so that I wouldn't get abducted. I was only seconds away from doom!"

"... That was an airplane, Julia." Naoto says.

"No, it wasn't, silly!" Julia laughs and grabs her milkshake, "Airplanes don't fly that high."

"Yo, Wassah'?" A low Jamaican accent approaches the group, placing their skateboard magnetically on to their back.

"Oh, hi! Darren, was it?" Kaitlyn tries to remember names.

"Damien, Damien Floyd." Damien turns to the road, laughs, and waves at someone. The four have no idea who he just waved at.

"Whoops, sorry." Kaitlyn continues to get names wrong, such as calling Julia 'Juliet' earlier.

Damien hops on top of the table, startling everyone, "You can just call me 'Kid Cobra', Ribby."

"Oh... ok..." Kaitlyn says.

The two bodyguards rush over to the table, "Hey, back off!" Ricardo yells.

"Don't worry Ricardo, he's not a threat," Kaitlyn leans into the bodyguard's ear and whispers, "... yet."

Damien grabs Kaitlyn's strawberry ice cream, gets a spoonful, and takes a bite through the opening of his mask, which looks weird from an outsider's point of view. "Mm, nice, strawberries." Damien gives it back Kaitlyn, "I'm allergic."

"Wait, what-"

Julia slams her hands onto the table and stands up, "Are aliens real, yes or no?"

"Yeeeeeaaaah, buddy!" Damien says. Julia's face lights up and they high-five, "Yep, I saw one up in the sky one time. It was blinkin', like, morse or somethin'."

Julia nudges Naoto on his chain arm, as if that confirms her suspicions, "Look," Naoto politely says, "We are in the middle of eating and-"

"Hold that thought." Damien hops off the table and pulls out his phone and begins vlogging or livestreaming; it is hard to tell. Either way, he did not ask for permission to put the four in his video. "Wassah', my Naja Crew brotha's! I'm here with four of the stars that will join me in the upcoming ARMS Grand Prix." Damien says Prix as in 'Pricks' and not 'Pre'.

Damien slides to Kaitlyn, "Here we have Ribby, you guys already know her."

"Hello... People?" Kaitlyn says reluctantly, "How many people to be exact?"

"A lot more than you think." Damien replies, which makes Minako a bit worried, "YOU!" Damien points at Minako.

"Me?" Minako asks.

"This is the buttkicka' Min Min. More like 'Mean Mean'! Come on, show us some of 'dat trash talk!" Damien orders.

Minako has no idea how to respond, "Uh... Imma... Punch yoooou."

"That's good, that's good." Damien hops in the air and lands beside Julia, "You, alien girl, say 'Wassah'' to the crew."

"I'm being held here against my will." Julia says with a complete monotone straight face.

"Stop that." Naoto shoves Julia softly, making the teenager laugh.

Damien walks over to Naoto, "Ah, you. Mister numba' one at the auditions. I've heard everyone is excited about you, callin' you Max's 'Golden Child'."

"Yeah, well, we will see I suppose." Naoto states.

"We sure will." Damien says, almost sinisterly. Damien walks away from Naoto and back over to the BFF duo, "Can you believe it? Six of the ten fighters, all here togetha' for 'da last time as friends."

Plenty of parts in that sentence confused Kaitlyn, but she focuses on one, "Six? What do you mean six?"

"Me, you, buttkicka', alien, numba' one, and my boy 'the blob man'!" Damien counts on his fingers.

"You mean Gumby is here?" Julia asks, "Where?"

"Right here-" Damien looks behind him to see that no one is there. He then looks at the group, and then runs down to the sidewalk, where Damien sees Helix smashed into the side of the parked car. He appears stuck to it, as if he ran into it straight on. "I should probably go get 'em."

Damien turns his phone off and grabs Kaitlyn's strawberry ice cream and takes one last bite, "Well, I will see you later!"

"Wait." Naoto catches Damien's attention, "Look, are we good about the whole 'audition' thing?"

Naoto is referring to how Damien was angry that he got second place and that the ninja beat him for first, "... I will see you later." Damien says one last time, more straightforward now. Damien then pulls off his 'snake'board off his back and gets on it in one swift movement and rides down the sidewalk to go pick up Helix.

"... I don't like him." Minako says after he is gone.

The sudden comment makes Kaitlyn laugh, "Dang, Min Min, laying out the trash talk."

* * *

The sounds of smooth jazz can be heard from the top of Brass Tower. This is because, in Max Brass's office, a live band of golden robots are playing instruments on a large stage for their two audience members: Max Brass and Chevette Aubertin, a French celebrity with magical silver locks, who is sitting on Max's leg drinking champagne, giggling, with her arm around his neck, with Max sitting on his computer chair with the big monitor beside them showing advertisements of the Grand Prix.

"Maxy, you are just despicable." Chevette says.

"What? That's what that little Asian looks like." Max states, drinking out of the champagne bottle instead of a glass like Chevette is doing.

"Now, tell me, where on Earth did you find... musicians like these?" Chevette is referring to the jazz robots.

"Oh, well," Max thinks for a moment, "They were actually funded to be hospital helpers under my company, but I decided to keep them for myself. You know, for moments like these."

Max's smile is contagious for Chevette, "Charming." She says as she takes a sip out of her glass.

"Mhm, just don't tell nobody I have 'em." Max laughs until he notices that his bottle is empty, "DEBBIE! Come get me another bottle!"

The door to the kitchen slides open, revealing the large golden robot named Debbie, Max's handmade maid, who is holding another champagne bottle. "Here you go, sir." Max swipes it out of her hand, noticeably tipsy, "... Sir, I must advice you that consuming five bottle of champagne in a row-"

"Oh, quit your yappin' and get back in the kitchen!" Max clumsily throws her the empty bottle he had, which Debbie catches perfectly. She then retreats back into the kitchen, with the door sliding down behind her.

Chevette smiles at the situation, "I have to hand it to you, Maxy," She says as Max pops the cork off the bottle and refills Chevette's glass, "When you first told me about your conniving plan, I had many doubts. 'No way was this going to work legally'. But seeing what you've accomplished and all the people you've fooled, there's only one thing I can tell you now: Well done."

"What can I say? I've always told you that, even if I don't look like it, I'm a genius." Max and the actress clink their drinks together.

"Yep. Our first show is set for live broadcast and is already foreseen to have high view numbers," Max brings the bottle up to his mouth right after muttering something very quickly, "They could be higher, but..."

Chevette stops her drinking and looks at Max, "... What exactly do you mean, 'They could be higher'?"

Max flinches, "Well, you know, uh... I was talking to some people and some people aren't too happy about some people and-"

"What did you do?" Chevette angrily stands up and places her hands on her hips, suddenly acting sober.

Max stutters for a moment, still very much drunk, "I got a call. The- uhh..." Max notices that the band of golden robots have stopped playing and are all staring at the two, "The 'press' is not satisfied with our selections."

Chevette turns and sees the band staring also. Both the businessman and the actress have been very careful about talking about the plans out loud, especially with robots who can take recordings. "... Well, you better go tell the 'press' that they best suck it up or they'll lose their end of the deal."

"T-T-That's the thing, uh... It's not just the 'press'. It's THE 'press'." Max tries to talk in code.

"WHAT? Max! Are you serious? It's-"

"NANANANAnana!" Max stops Chevette before she can say anything. "Yes, it's THE 'press'."

Chevette walks away from Max for a moment and puts her hand on her forehead as she thinks, "Sacré bleu..." Chevette says to herself, "Well, ok, so what does the 'press' want exactly? The rest of the 'press' was fine with our choices so far."

"... They want me to get rid of someone."

Chevette is taken back by this, "Really? Who?" Max looks up at Chevette, a bit distraught, "... What?! No, you CANNOT take me out! MAX! NO!"

The actress suddenly turns violent with her giant locks rising in the air as she marches back over to Max, "What?" Max begins leaning back in his chair in fear, "Not you, sweet-pea!"

Chevette continues to hold on to her anger, but then stops and gains back her composure, "Sorry, sorry..."

"I'd never let anyone, not even the 'press', take you away from me." Max says, standing up and walking towards Chevette, placing his large hands on her sides.

"... Then who do they want out?" Chevette asks.

As Max is about to tell her, the elevator doors fly open. "Mr. Brass! Mr..." It's the two scientists who have been with Helix back at sign-ups and auditions, "Woah... Are we interrupting something?"

"What? No! No." Max lets go of Chevette. He then quickly presses a button on his desk that spins the stage with the jazz robots around until a part of the large trophy case that make up the walls appear. No one would be able to tell that that part of the wall is movable.

The older scientist, named Professor Gregory, speaks up, "... Uh, what was that all about-"

"Nothin' of your concern, Professor. Now, why'd you run up into my office without tellin' the clerk to call me first?" Max asks, frustrated by the disruption.

"We did," Gregory explains, "She called multiple times, but then just told us to come on up."

Max looks at the phone on his desk. It has six missed calls, "Whoops."

"Mr. Brass," the younger scientist, Professor Hamilton, says, "Helix is missing."

"Who?"

"Blob fellow. Ate your couch." Chevette tells him.

"Oh, yeah, that thing. And why does this concern me?" Max asks the two scientists.

Hamilton tries to come up with a good excuse, "Because, we saw him with one of your... golden knick knacks." He motions towards Gregory.

Swiftly, Gregory sidesteps and grabs a trophy that was openly on display under a lamp on a table instead of being locked up in one of Max's big trophy cases. Keeping the trophy behind him, he reveals that the table is empty.

"AH! My lucky number fifty! Come on, let's go!" Max tells Chevette, who obviously saw what actually happened; Max is too drunk to figure it out, "Debbie! Come on! You're driving!"

"Yes, sir." Debbie exits the kitchen, already holding the keys.

"TO THE LIMO!" Max yells right before he trips and falls on the floor.

* * *

"Ok, no, it makes sense, I'm just explaining it wrong," Julia rapidly shoots out words, trying to collect her thoughts. Does not help that she gave herself a brain freeze from the milkshake, "So, Louie Libre won the kick-boxing match against The Detonator and earned a spot on team 'Friday Night Lights', not Rumble C.K."

After the five finished their snacks, Julia began to tell the girls about her favorite arc during the original run of the Grand Prix. The problem was, though, was that it was extremely complicated and requires a lot of explanation, and the small teenager is now in that downward spiral of trying to say how awesome something is just with words, "Wait," Kaitlyn tries her best to follow the story, "I thought you said earlier that Louie Libre was on team 'BOTB' and not 'Friday Night Lights'?"

Julia realizes she forgot another crucial moment out of the many crucial moments for the storyline to work properly, "Oh, wait, I forgot to mention, Louie Libre left 'Battle of the Bold' because of his feud with Steelimir, who has always been Max's main rival since his first match, and Louie went to 'Friday Night Lights' so that he could join Max's team at the 'Spring Season' pay-per-view."

"So... Rumble C.K. was not fighting?" Minako is very confused.

"Exactly! Louie beat him the night before 'Spring Season' and was now on Max's team against Steelimir's team from 'Battle of the Bold'."

"By the way," Naoto speaks up, having known this story quite well from listening to Julia, "Max is called 'Armstrong' at this point."

"SHHH!" Julia tries to get Naoto to be quiet.

"Wait, what?" Kaitlyn is trying her best.

Julia looks exhausted, "... This takes place after he was Mr. LongReach, he was part of the business leader guys who always wore suits and stuff, but he got rid of it and he beat up the President of the Grand Prix at 'Slamajamma'."

"Why?" Armando out of nowhere asks.

"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT-" Julia takes a breath as Naoto smirks, knowing what he did, "Look, I'll finish this when I get back, I gotta go to the crapper real quick. Don't touch my stickers!"

Julia hops off the table and heads inside the ice cream shop. Kaitlyn seems pouty, as she was totally going to touch Julia's stickers that came with the kid's milkshake Naoto ordered her. Kaitlyn and Minako both scoot towards Naoto, "Help." Kaitlyn says concernedly.

Naoto looks at the two, "The two programs held a pay-per-view where the five best from each show fought each other, 'Friday Night Lights' was led by Max Brass and 'Battle of the Bold' was led by Steelimir."

"Oooooh," Kaitlyn lets out her realization, "I didn't know 'Battle of the Bold' was a show."

"Yeah, I was not going to mention anything, but Julia gets a bit derailed when she tries to explain this ARMS stuff to anyone, including me," Naoto explains, "I usually have to keep her on track myself, or else she takes all day to get it out."

"Man, she sure does love this Grand Prix stuff, huh?" Kaitlyn jokes.

"Yes, she does," Naoto responds, "... I am very happy that she gets to be a part of this. The Grand Prix has always been her favorite thing to talk about since we met. I like to see her do more things rather than sell scrap metal."

"She sells scrap metal? For what?" Kaitlyn asks, now whispering.

Naoto leans in, "Julia always said it was for her construction class, but I doubt it, as she's been doing it over the course of the last year..."

Naoto is smart, but he still has not put together what is going on with Julia. He feels as though he only knows the outer portion of her life and not the inside. As far as he knows, he found a strange fort at the scrapyard that had a picture of Julia with, presumably, her father. The use of the fort was unknown; it could just be Julia's form of a treehouse that was made for fun. Naoto has kind of confirmed Julia's parents are around- always busy, but around- based off the stories the girl has told him of her going to meet Max Brass with her father when she was little. Still, though, something in the story felt off, to say the least.

Naoto turns and looks into the restaurant, looking to see if Julia was there or not, "... Ok, so the big punchline to the story is that Louie Libre backstabs Max and joins Steelimir. I want you two to act like you are really surprised by it when she tells you."

Kaitlyn looks at Minako look at each other, "Ok, sure, but why?" Kaitlyn asks.

"You'll see." Naoto states.

With that, Julia returns and continues her story, finally reaching the events of 'Spring Season'- with the help of Naoto keeping her on track, of course, "Ok, so everyone is fighting everyone, the referee doesn't even care anymore. Max and Steelimir knock out all of the other fighters from the opposite team until it's just the two of them standing. The crowd gets psyched up as the two approach one another, with their long history behind them and all. Suddenly, as they are about to start fighting, Louie Libre gets back up and stands beside Max..."

"... And then?" Kaitlyn says.

"I was doing a dramatic pause, slow your rolls," Julia explains, "Max and Libre both face Steelimir, their spring arms ready for anything when suddenly... BA-BOOM! A fist comes flying out of nowhere and hits Max straight up the jaw, and... It is LIBRE WHO PUNCHED HIM!"

"WHAT?!" Kaitlyn yells excitedly.

"No way!" Minako gets out of her seat and stands up, completely overdoing it.

Julia's eyes light up, "I KNOW, RIGHT?! It was INSANE! Turns out Libre and Steelimir were in cahoots the ENTIRE TIME! Absolutely no one saw it coming!"

"That's awesome- I MEAN, that's, uh, bad?" Kaitlyn looks back and forth between Julia and Naoto.

Julia seems confused for a moment, but then bursts out into laughter, "I mean, I guess you could say it was awesome, just by how big it was for the rest of Max's Armstrong arc-"

Speak of the devil, a large golden limo rolls up to the four outside the ice cream shop, and the driver window rolls down to reveal Debbie. "You kids want a ride to your new apartment?"

Julia blinks a couple of times, "... Say what now?"

The six enter the back of the limo, with Mechanica hopping on to the roof of the car and holding the sides of it with its large claws, as Julia ordered. The inside already holds a large cast of very unique characters: Chevette, the two professors, Damien, and Helix. The ceiling of the limo is lined with bright neon yellow lights, which illuminates all the fighters with a golden glow.

"Hello, girls." Chevette waves to the new passengers.

"Howdy, Chevette!" Julia gets in the limo first, "Say, can I call you 'Chevy'?"

"Absolutely not."

"Noted." Julia sits beside Helix along with Naoto. Minako and Kaitlyn sit near Chevette, with Armando and Ricardo sitting on both ends of the girls.

The window between the driver and the back of the limo is lowered, revealing Max Brass in the passenger seat, holding his trophy that Helix supposedly stole, "WHAT'S POPPIN' IN HERE?!"

Everyone sits in the back quietly, "Not a lot, actually." Naoto breaks the silence.

"You guys are no fun." Max says. Kaitlyn raises her hand, "Yes, Ribbonie?"

 _Ribbonie?_ Kaitlyn thought, "Uh, what is this talk about new apartments?"

"Oh! That! Yeah, I should talk about that..." Max is still drunk from his champagne-drinking scene earlier, "Y'all be ARMS fighters now, so you're gonna live like one! As of now, I'm moving all of you into the Spring Hotel uptown."

"THE SPRING HOTEL?!" Julia yells in excitement, "AS IN 'SPRING STADIUM'?"

Max holds his head due to the loud squealing going on in the back, "Yes, yes, now stop makin' that noise! You're hurtin' my perfect brain."

"Doesn't that hotel cost a whole lot?" Minako asks.

"It sure does! But I had a quick chat with the owner... ME!" Max lets out a big laugh, like what he said was knee-slappingly funny.

"Man, he sure does own a lot." Minako says to herself.

Chevette leans in to the young Asian girl, "You have no idea."

* * *

The limo arrives at the Spring Hotel, the once notable Spring Stadium, where the sport of ARMS was originally set in before it's demise. Debbie releases the eleven riders from the back, along with Mechanica hopping off the roof, who all follow the tipsy Max Brass, who tours them through the building. The walls are covered with ancient artifacts of the old sport, including some that belonged to the people Julia spoke about back at the ice cream shop, including the Detonator's bomb prop, which was actually hollow. Who knew.

Brass opens a set of two large glass doors and leads the group through a tunnel. On the other end of the tunnel was none other than the Spring Stadium itself. The open-air arena was shaped like a square, with trampolines surrounding the playfield instead of walls. A large monitor stands above the stadium like any other sports game and empty seats face the middle, which were once filled with adorning fans. The skyscrapers of Iwata can be seen off in the close distance, including the Brass Tower.

Julia is obviously the first person to go into the stadium, who ran right past Max to see it, "Wow, wow, wow! It's bigger than I thought it was! This is amazing!"

"Yes, you are all standing in history. MY history, to be exact," Max holds his arms out as if he is holding the entire stadium, "This is where I had my first and last match as an undefeated champion. And this, too, will be where you'll have your first match."

Julia spins around and looks at Max, "Really? Here?!"

"Mhm," Max says, "I bought this stadium as more of a thank you to what it's done for me. I knew I'd come up with another use for it someday, other than some silly hotel."

"And good that you did, Commissioner!" A strange voice that does not fit any of the fighters comes from the small crowd. It is low and charming, like a sports announcer, "Now it's time to get this ball rolling and say 'welcome back' to the ARMS Grand Prix!"

Everyone in the crowd looks very confused, looking at each other to figure out who is speaking, "Down here, folks!" The voice says.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Hamilton yells, pointing at the ground. Everyone looks down and suddenly jumps back away from it. The strangest creature is now standing in the middle of the crowd- if that is considered a creature. It is small and yellow, with a large round head with a red mask over it's eyes and a small flimsy body that bears a bowtie on it. On top of it's head is a giant fist, reminiscent of Max's helmet.

But, instead of it being a helmet, the fist moves.

"Hello everybody!" The strange creature waves it's giant head-hand, "I should probably introduce myself-"

Dr. Hamilton immediately kicks it up in the air in fear, and the creature lands near Max Brass, where it does a complete faceplant. "Ow... That's understandable, though."

Max Brass picks the creature off the ground and sets him upright in front of everybody, "Uh... This, right here, is your Official ARMS Grand Prix Commentator. Everyone, meet Biff!"

"Thank you for the introduction," Biff's voice sounds like it should be in a car insurance commercial, "I am happy to be your commentator for this upcoming season."

"... What is it?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Oh, it's a robot!" Max reassures, "... I think..."

Max looks at the small Biff, "Hey, how should I know? No one has told me either." Biff says.

"Well, whatever," Max brushes off this crucially-wanted fact, "Biff, why don't you tell our fighters how this Grand Prix is going to work."

"With pleasure, Commissioner." Biff takes a step forward, looking as if he is getting into the zone, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, blob and giant machine, for this season of the ARMS Grand Prix, all ten fighters will be placed together in matches in order to receive points. These points are rewarded based off the audience's pick, the skill in the match, and by, most importantly, who actually won. Now, during the season, fighters with the lowest amount of points will get sent home periodically until we are down to the final two. Whichever of the last two fighters wins that final round will be considered the champion of the Grand Prix, but it's not done just yet, as that champion will then face off against the one and only Max Brass for the chance at the 500 grand!"

Everyone stares at Biff, not saying a word. Kaitlyn speaks up, "... Man, that's a lot."

"So, we get kicked out if we have the least amount of points?" Julia asks, feeling a bit scared.

"Why, yes." Biff says enthusiastically, "But elimination does not begin until far down the line. Everyone will have the same amount of chances to receive the same amount of points, it is just based off your performance how much of those possible points you earn."

"Don't worry too much about it," Max states, "I just wanted to come up with something other than a silly ol' tournament. Plus, with only ten of y'all, doing a tournament would only last us one night. Good thinkin', huh? Now that we know what we're gettin' into, let's head out and see the rooms you guys will be staying at. Come on!"

Max and Biff both lead the way out of the stadium, leaving only Julia and Mechanica in the stadium. Naoto sees this and runs back over to the teen.

"Hey, we are leaving." Naoto tells Julia. She stands there, in the middle of the arena, admiring the scenery. The seats, the trampolines, the entire stadium. Julia soaks up all that she can from this one moment. Naoto walks over to Julia and places his hand on her shoulder, smiling.

Julia looks up at Naoto, "We made it, big bro." Julia gives out one of her signature big grins.

As Max leads the group, Biff hops back and gets as near as he can to Kaitlyn, "Hello, Miss Ribbon Girl!"

"Uh, hi..." Kaitlyn is still a bit uncomfortable with the strange yellow creature.

"Do you want me to get rid of him?" Armando whispers into Kaitlyn's ear.

"I don't think..." Kaitlyn replies.

"Listen, uh," Biff tries to find the right words, "I am such a HUGE fan of your work. Let me just say, you have amazing talent!"

Kaitlyn was not prepared for the compliment, "Oh, why, thank you!"

"Ribbon Girl, it is an HONOR to be your commentator for this Grand Prix," Biff says, essentially fangirling, "An HONOR! IT IS AN HONOR-"

"Ok, that's enough!" Max yells as Biff gets progressively louder, "Stop buttering up the fighters, Biff. We don't wanna get called out for having favorites."

"Right! Sorry!" Biff apologizes and waddles his stubby feet back over to Max.

A question has just came into Kaitlyn's mind, "Say, Mr. Brass. Where is Andy? Or Maibe and Byte?"

"They were at some pizza restaurant. Debbie asked them if they wanted to see their new apartment, but they were like 'no', and they went back to some crazy eating contest." Max recalls as best as he could. Yes, Andy and Maibe are still having their pizza competition, and yes, Byte and Barq are still being subjugated to it.

The crew, now including Julia, Naoto, and Mechanica, all reach a hallway with three doors on one side. Max speaks up, "Here's y'all's rooms. Girls only in the first room and guys in the second and third, I don't care who bunks with who."

Julia opens the first door to reveal a giant pink room. Of course Max chose this to be the girl's room, but that does not take away how impressive it is. Four massive beds fill up the space, with a tall ceiling holding a crystal chandelier above them. Two large glass doors touch both the ceiling and the floor, leading to a black balcony with an amazing view of the city of Iwata. It looks like something out of a princess castle.

"COOL!" Julia immediately runs around, probably knocking over stuff and looking in places she should not. Mechanica follows, having to duck it's upper body to get in through the door, and sits down near one of the beds.

Julia runs into the bathroom as the other three women of the group enter, "This is a very beautiful room." Chevette says.

"I'll say," Kaitlyn hops on to her bed and starts jumping up and down, "This place rocks!"

"Beats a storage room." Minako brings up.

"THE TOWELS ARE SCENTED PINEAPPLE. WHAT." Julia yells happily from the bathroom.

Naoto enters the second room, which is slightly less elegant than the girls, but it is still really good. The walls are a dark blue, with the same balcony layout, except with three beds instead of four. A couple of chairs fill up the area near the balcony doors, along with a racecar track lining the bottom of the walls, making it, truly, a boy's room.

Damien shoves Naoto out of the way, "DIBS!" the livestreamer quickly hops on to one of the beds.

"No one was fighting you to get that particular bed, Kid Cobra." Naoto says, setting himself down on one of the other beds.

"I got it, though, didn't I?" Damien's logic does not make too much sense to Naoto, but it does not faze him. He has heard worse logic from Julia on many occasions.

Armando and Ricardo also enter the room, seeing that there is only one bed left. "Uhm, actually," Naoto catches their attention, "I am almost certain that the last bed is for that Andy guy."

"We don't sleep anyway." Armando casually says as the two bodyguards sit in the chairs by the balcony in unison, like how they do everything. Naoto feels like he should say something else, but decides to just let this be.

Gregory and Hamilton both enter the last room with Helix. The room is almost pure white, with carpet instead of hardwood floors like the other two. It continues the trend of a balcony and holds three beds. "My, this is quite the hotel room." Hamilton states.

"Better than your last room, huh Helix?" Gregory laughs as Helix runs around the white room, which was not the best fit for a green blob monster that leaves gooey tracks wherever he goes.

Everyone continues to settle down in their respective rooms at the Spring Hotel until Max enters the girl's room, "Hey, real quick, I need-"

"Out!" Chevette commands.

"But, I-"

"You said this room was only for girls. Begone!" Kaitlyn plays along.

Max looks unamused. Julia chucks a pillow at his face, causing him to growl as the girls laugh, "Look, I need to see Ribbon Girl and I need to see her now!"

Kaitlyn sees this comment as coming out of nowhere, "Oh. Well, alright then, I'm on my way."

As Kaitlyn gets off her bed and heads to the door, she pasts by Chevette, who is giving off a knowing smile, making Kaitlyn feel a tiny bit uneasy about the situation. Max holds the door open as Kaitlyn exits the room. When Max closes the door, the two bodyguards suddenly appear behind it, "D'WUAH!" Max jumps back.

"Why do you need Miss Pleat?" Ricardo firmly asks.

"Uh, uh, I just need to bring her to the Brass Tower real quick for, you know, purposes involving the Grand Prix." Max explains, not convincing the bodyguards, "... You two can tag along, if you want."

"There you go." Armando says.

* * *

 **Hey everyone! I am going to do something special for this chapter: An intermission! That's right! If you haven't, I want you to go do something real quick and come back and finish this off. Like, go grab a snack, go use the restroom, or go watch a YouTube video or something. Don't stop reading though, as the next parts are going to be... Interesting. You'll see what I mean. So, go stand up and stretch, drink some water, do some quick exercises, you know, something I haven't done since I started writing this chapter. Ugh. And if you don't want to stop reading, then you can just read this blob of bolded text for a bit. And if you don't want to have a quick 1-on-1 with me, you can continue with the story; it's right underneath this block.**

 **The reason I wanted to do an intermission is because this chapter, by itself, is longer than the first three chapters combined. Isn't that insane? How do I go from writing a tiny little sticky note to one chapter that is over 20,000 words? It's mind-boggling. Speaking of which, I was wondering something. Would you guys be interested in me doing a re-write of the last six chapters? I went and read them right before I started this just to get back in the feel for it, but the thing is that those chapters are almost a year old now, and they are noticeably bad at some parts. By the way, the anniversary for this story is coming up in a couple of days, but I didn't want to wait and upload this then just because of a date no one really cares about. (The anniversary is the 24th of June, by the way).**

 **So, would that be something you readers would want? If I did a re-write, I would not only go in and fix grammar, but I would add plenty of new content that helps bring all the chapters together more coherently. Thing is, though, is that I won't have time to be making Chapter 8 if I did that. So, which one should I do? Re-writes or continue the story? I am interested to hear your responses to that. Make sure to do it later once you are done reading, though, and not now. You don't want to spoil yourself, especially if you read the chapter's title.**

 **But yeah, make sure to leave in your review what you thought of this chapter. It's been a year, so sorry if I'm a bit rusty. I just wanted to put this intermission here just so I can say some words directly to you, since I didn't at the beginning and I won't at the end... see you there soon, hehe...**

 **Alright, ready? Let's get back into this. Just a refresher for people who ACTUALLY left, Max Brass just called Kaitlyn out of the room for some reason. Let's continue our reading, shall we?**

* * *

Kaitlyn and the two bodyguards, along with Biff and Debbie, are led by Max into the large elevator at Brass Tower, where they then rise close to the top of the giant building, but not all the way; about a couple floors under where Max's office is. When the door opens, a recording studio with a giant green screen wall appears in front of them, with the old lady from the Tower's front desk setting up a giant camera, as ordered by Brass.

"Esmeralda! How's it goin'?" Max finger guns Esmeralda as the group enters the room.

"Couldn't be better." Esmeralda responds, having no emotion in her voice, obviously not meaning what she said.

Biff continues his conversation with Ricardo about their love of popsicles, "You simply must try the one's from Sunrise Shar-Pei, their popsicles are the best I've ever tasted, they are filled to the brim with blueberry."

"Mmmm." Ricardo gets lost in his thoughts of blueberry popsicles.

Kaitlyn tries to gather as much intel as she can about the strange sports commentator. _He can eat food, so he's not a robot, because then his little inside doohickeys would catch on fire or something,_ Kaitlyn thought, _But then what is he?_ Her mind then goes back to Julia's rant about aliens.

As the pop singer tries to narrow down the possible choices, Max interrupts her thought process, "And here we are!" Max waves his hand to the green screen as if he is revealing a new car at a gameshow.

"So, what is 'here'?" Kaitlyn asks.

"Ya' see, no one has really heard from you since the concert. All that your fans have seen is just that you've joined the game," Max explains his plan, "So, I thought, who better to do a promo for the Grand Prix than the fan favorite herself?"

Kaitlyn is still on edge, "That sounds reasonable, I guess-"

"BRILLIANT MOVE, COMMISSIONER!" Biff congratulates, "I couldn't have possibly thought of a better contender to rev up those viewers than the RAVISHING Ribbon Girl!"

"... Does he... always talk like that?" Kaitlyn asks.

"He's a sports commentator," Max answers, "Of course he does."

As Esmeralda gets the shoot ready, Max runs over a grabs a group of papers that were laying on a nearby desk. It is held together by a paperclip made of gold, "Now," Max hands the papers to Kaitlyn, "All I need you to do is read these lines in front of the camera, and add a little 'spice' here and there."

Kaitlyn looks through the promotional material's script, which has lines for both her, Max, and Biff, being the background announcer. She then begins to read her lines, "... I... I can't say these things."

Max shrugs his shoulder and gives off a confused smile, "Why not? All you do is get in front of the camera and just read the paper."

Kaitlyn continues reading the script. "Mr. Brass, why are all of my parts about how much I don't like Maibe?"

"Because, here's the tagline, little girl. I already have this set up," Max gets into an odd announcement stance, "'Ribbon Girl vs Master Mummy: The Encore Everyone's Been Waiting For! Tune in as Ribbon Girl seeks her unruly revenge on the rampaging monster that all of Iwata hates and fears!' Great, huh? Thought of it myself. It will bring in so many viewers."

"I'm still not following... on multiple levels." Kaitlyn reads the harsh words that she must say.

"It's going to be the main event Friday night, sweetheart. We just need you to hype it up for the camera." Max Brass says.

"But, I don't actually think these things about Maibe. I don't hate him, like, at all. He's a very nice guy-"

"For the sake of television, Ribbon Girl does," Max walks away, "Now, go get in front of the camera and read those lines."

"But, I can't." Kaitlyn places her foot down on the conversation, although very softly.

Max sits in a director's chair in the shadows of the room and stares at her, "Ugh," He moans, "Biff, can you please explain to her how this works, I don't feel like dealing with this no more."

"Will do, Commissioner!" Biff waddles in front of Kaitlyn, "You see, Ribbon Girl, although the fighting and action in the ARMS Grand Prix is real, the storylines told with those fights are entirely fiction. The nicknames, the rivalries, the backstabs, all predetermined by the backstage writers, who, in our case, consists of Mr. Brass."

"Fake, huh?" Kaitlyn thinks back to the story Julia was telling. _I totally called it,_ Kaitlyn thought.

"Yes, ma'am!" Biff says, "'Louie Libre' didn't really hate 'Armstrong'. Only on television he does. Max Jackson and Louis Graham were actually pretty close; went bowling every Wednesday."

"Ok, but, do I really have to say... all of these things? On T.V.?" Kaitlyn points towards the script.

"If we want to sell the main event, then yep," Max hops back into the conversation, "Look, everyone knows that it's fake anyway. This is all, you know, for fun."

"For fun... Well..." Kaitlyn thinks about this decision. She has always been told by producers at Ribbonic Records that she and Ribbon Girl are two separate entities, one real and one fictional, but this could be taking it too far.

Armando and Ricardo both walk up to Kaitlyn, "Do you wish to leave, Miss Pleat?" Armando asks.

"What? No!" Max stands back up and starts marching towards Kaitlyn, "She can't leave! She has to do this-"

"Hey, back off!" Ricardo yells.

"Down, Ricardo," Kaitlyn orders, "... I'll do it. If it's all fake and everyone knows that, I'm sure Maibe wouldn't mind... A little playful banter."

Kaitlyn gives off a quick fake smile, making Max excited, "Great! Let's get this started. You're up first, 'Ribbon Girl'."

With that, Kaitlyn steps on to the green screen in front of Esmeralda's camera as Max heads back to his director's chair. Esmeralda hits the record button and begins filming Kaitlyn, "... Uh," Kaitlyn seems confused, "Do I just start?"

"Yeah!" Max yells from off in the distance. Debbie holds a boom microphone above Kaitlyn's head.

"... Can I, like, have you guys read your part so I can get a feel for it?" Kaitlyn asks Biff and Max.

"Flag-Nabbin'-Shoe-Shinin'-Horse-Ridin'..." Max mutters to himself as he pulls out a script. Biff does the same.

Biff begins the promo, "'Live Friday night, from the re-opening of Spring Stadium, comes the long awaited return of the ARMS Grand Prix!' Cue music."

"We have a famous singer comin' in from Japan for music," Max explains, already going off the script, "Name's Eliana, or somethin' like that."

Biff continues, "'Watch as ten elite athletes stretch their limits and go for victory using awesome extendable arms and fight like never before! Including the '"Man of Mystery' Helix, the 'Ramen Bomber' Min Min, and, of course, the highly anticipated 'Student of Stealth' Ninjara!'"

Kaitlyn gives off a quick giggle in the middle of Biff's reading, "Sorry! Sorry, just... 'Ramen Bomber'!"

"I came up with it myself!" Max says, proud of his wordplay that took far too long than it should have.

"'And for the main event: It's the encore everyone's been waiting for! Tune in as the 'Airess' Ribbon Girl seeks her unruly revenge on the rampaging monster that all of Iwata hates and fears, the 'Grim Creeper' Master Mummy!'"

Kaitlyn stands still for a moment, just listening to Biff's voice. It's so engaging. Suddenly Brass fiercely points at Ribbon Girl, causing her to realize it was her turn to speak, "Oh! Uh... 'I'm ready to get my hands on that arena and prove that I'm not just some happy-go-lucky pop singer!'"

"Good! Good..." Max says, listening and reading along very carefully.

"'I'm fighting for all the girls out there to show that we can bring the punch like any stupid ol' guy can, so don't underestimate what I can do!' Aw, that's nice, a good message for girls out there-"

"Shhh! Keep going!" Max waves off Kaitlyn's comments.

Kaitlyn rolls her eyes and gets back into the script, "'Ribbon Girl is ready to fight and throw anyone who thinks they can beat me into the trash like your grandma's dirty smellin' garbage!'" That last part makes Kaitlyn chuckle a bit, "Sorry."

"We'll do another take, just keep on going." Max orders.

"'Make sure to bring your family to go see Friday's main event, where I take on that crook that totally crashed my concert'," Kaitlyn is getting to the part she does not like, and it is noticeable in her voice that she is not comfortable with it, "'He's going to wish he never messed up my rhythm after I'm through with him.' Geez, how long is my part?"

"Oh!" Max sits up, "We'll cut out some parts of it, don't worry. We just want as much footage as we can for the editors to play around with."

"That makes sense..." Kaitlyn hunts for her spot she lost, "... 'You say you have the power of Egypt on your side, but who exactly is going to save you when you're face to face with me? I'll see you Friday night... pal.'"

"Punk." Max corrects.

"They both work the same way," Kaitlyn explains before going back to the script, "'The ARMS Grand Prix has been gone and has stayed dead for many years, but I am excited to bring it back and host the first main event LIVE! See you there!' How was that?"

"... I thought it was pretty good." Biff jumps in.

"A couple more takes wouldn't hurt." Max says, circling some parts of the script. Kaitlyn gives him a thumbs up and the crew rehearses from the beginning.

* * *

The sun's light slowly wanes for the buildings of Iwata as the traffic lights and car headlights all began to glow in the night. Streetlamps light up the roads with a rich dark orange, shining on five very unique characters on the sidewalk, although not entirely out of place with the abnormality of the usual residents of the city. These four include Byte, Barq, Andy, Montu and Maibe, who have all recently just left Etika's Pizza Pie'as. At the moment, Andy and Maibe are trying to ride on top of Barq like how Byte is able to do.

"You need to put your left foot on his forehead, Shurbak, not in the air like you're trying to outdo Bruce Lee." Byte infoms Andy, who is having a hard time getting on top of Barq to begin riding him.

"I-I got it! I-" Andy gives out a big burp, "Got it!" Andy is able to place his left foot on top of Barq, holding himself up by grabbing onto the robot dog's snout with his hands.

Andy lets go of the nose and tries to catch his balance on top of Barq, "I did it! Now, WHOOOSH!" He holds his hand out in front of him, telling the bot to go forward.

Byte nods his head, and Barq immediately bucks Andy off like a raging bull, sending him flying.

Andy slams right into the side of a brick wall and slowly slides down. "... Ow."

"You were better than last time," Byte reassures, "Although last time Barq directly shot you in the crotch region, but hey, it's still an improvement."

"I AM MAIBE!" Maibe jumps at Barq and goes for a bear hug. The dog then jumps in the air and dropkicks Maibe with his one wheel, knocking the mummy away.

"BARQ!" Barq yells as if he wants more.

Montu goes up to Maibe, who is laying on the ground in pain, and licks his nose, "AHH, MY DIGNITY!"

"This. This is fun." Byte happily says. The robot cop is enjoying getting back at the two terrorists- his words and not mine- for all the times they have angered him. He is doing this by simply taking advantage of the situation. Andy and Maibe's pizza eating contest actually went on for a couple of hours, and there was no declared winner. Instead, both of them saw a bird fly by outside and both decided to chase it down until they lost track of it. They then began to stumble around the streets of Iwata, finding things to do.

The reason for the stumbling is because, due to their gluttonous consumption of Italian dishes, Andy and Maibe have now reached a state any pizza-lovers knows where the mind goes blurry and vision becomes impaired. Simply put, the two are 'pizza drunk'.

Byte, who has dealt with plenty of drunk individuals on Buster Beach, knows exactly how to force the two to make fools of themselves, which is to ask them to do something they can never accomplish. When someone becomes 'pizza drunk', they will not stop trying to complete any challenge given to them until a new one arises and replaces it. For example, they chased that bird for a good hour. Half of the time they were chasing an airplane, but still.

Now, Byte has challenged them to ride on the back of Barq, who Byte is secretly telling to hit them or buck them off at the right time for the amusement for both robots. This was also payback for Byte not being able to see Debbie, who rode up to the pizza restaurant with Max Brass and offered the four to see their new apartments. Andy and Maibe declined, and Byte was forced by his programming objectives to stick with Maibe. So, having them trip and fall off of Barq is hilarious to Byte.

"Come on boys, it's just like riding a hoverboard, only extremely harder and nothing like riding a hoverboard." Byte tells the two as they duke it out with the dog-head.

Andy and Maibe are now going 2-on-1 on Barq, and are still losing considerably. If Barq entered the Grand Prix without Byte, he could still hold his own, easily.

"YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME, EVIL CREATURE!" Maibe yells when he is pizza drunk.

"Ehooold 'em bah da' sunglaaaasses." Andy slurs when he is pizza drunk.

"Oh yeah, you have him now." Byte laughs when he picks on helpless pizza drunks.

Andy tries his best to get on top of Barq, using Maibe's head as a prop for his hand, "Come on Maibe! Use 'dat Pharaoh Fury!"

Suddenly, Maibe lets go of Barq and backs away, letting Andy fall on to the pavement, "What did you say?"

Andy brushes his gym shorts off and makes sure his silky blue hair is in order, "You know, your Pharaoh Fury move, that move you used to beat me up a while back."

He is referring to the Ribbon Girl concert where, right before Minako stepped in, Maibe began to glow a bright yellow and started to release punch after punch at Andy and Kaitlyn, who were both incapacitated at that moment. Maibe realizes this, "Oh, that. I, uh... Well, anyone can do it, I just yell 'PHARAOH FURY' for, uh..."

"Showmanship or to be obnoxious?" Byte gives him the choice.

"Yes!" Maibe is a little all over the place.

"So," Andy burps again, "Anyone can do it?"

"Anyone with the arms."

Andy thinks for a moment, "Can you teach me to 'PHARAOH FURY' too?" Andy yells the phrase like Maibe did.

Maibe is a bit caught off guard by this sudden request. He has many personal reasons as to why he should not teach Andy how to perform such a move, but then decides to do it anyway, "You can't use my phrase, though."

"Oh, uh..." Andy's brain is still filled with food, "Can I say 'PIZZA POWER'?!"

"That's already taken," Byte says, "By overgrown mutated pubescent ninja reptiles."

"... Can I meet them?" Maibe asks.

Maibe asks Byte where there is enough room to do some powerful training in the city of Iwata and Byte, reluctantly, takes the two to Fils-Aime Park, riding on the top of Barq while doing so. This is the same park where Kaitlyn and Minako scared Andy by pretending to be muggers, which is kind of weird thinking about it now.

The four end up at a clearing right outside the basketball gym. The side of the gym is spray-painted large green graffiti art. "Dang hooligans!" Byte complains, "Do gang members just carry around spray-paint and Sharpies everywhere they go?"

"They're the bad boy art students." Andy jokes. Byte goes up to the graffiti art and begins to wash it off using a built-in water gun. The graffiti is simple, just a green skull with a lightning bolt running through one eye.

Andy tries his best to watch Maibe with the only light source being the now sprung-up moon and a large blue streetlamp above them, "Alright," Maibe begins, "Every person who has the arms can unlock their true power by focusing their energy into... themselves. Does that makes sense?"

"Perfectly." Maibe's silly explanations are crystal clear and informative to Andy.

"You want to get all of your energy and put it right here." Maibe puts his hands on the middle of his chest.

"Your heart?"

"Sternum."

"Oh." Andy tries to figure out the logic behind that, "Why though?"

"Because your bones are always moving, rubbing against each other, forming energy," With Egyptians having to mummify people's bodies, along with removing brains and internal organs, they all became renowned anatomists, "And all the bones are connected. If you are able to place all your energy into one spot, then you can release it at will. And you want to release it into your arms."

"... Mmkay, sounds easy enough." Andy says, totally understanding how to do it.

"Alright, now, focus everything on to the middle of your body, use your mind, your soul, and yourself." Maibe gets into a fighting stance, and so does Andy.

Andy tries to focus his energy into the middle, "... Am I suppose to be feeling anything right now?" He yells.

"Do you feel a tiny bit tingly?" Maibe asks.

"... A little."

"You're doing it then."

"Oh. Ok." Andy continues to focus his energy.

The two just stare at each other for what feels like a minute or so. The cat and robot dog nearby, who have been watching, look very confused.

"... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-" Maibe begins to slowly raise his voice.

Andy seems concerned, but follows the teacher anyway, "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"

Maibe gets louder, "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAH-"

"aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-" The two are now full on screaming at each other.

"Ok, I'm done." Byte walks back to the group, "Now, what are you two do... ing…"

He walks in on both of them just screaming as loud as they can facing one another, nothing happening. "Barq?" Barq asks.

"No, don't call the ambulance... yet." Byte waves down at Barq.

Suddenly, Maibe's irises begin to spin. Andy sees this and tries screaming louder, focusing his energy as hard as he can into the middle of his body.

"Meow." Montu says.

"What is it, vermin?" Byte then looks down at where Montu is looking. The ground around Maibe is beginning to crack. Byte switches his hand into tickle taser mode as a precaution.

The air around Maibe begins to change into a faint yellowish color. Maibe is beginning to reach full power, while Andy still has nothing.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Andy lets out.

"COME ON BOY, FOCUS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Maibe says, his irises now spinning rapidly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"COME ON!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"FOCUS!" The air around Maibe is beginning to glow brightly, as if yellow fire is radiating off of Maibe's body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Andy feels a lot more tingly than he was before.

"FOCUS ON THAT STERNUM!" Maibe yells.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Byte yells, scared.

"eeeeeeYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yellow flames suddenly burst out of Andy's body like a firework, reaching all the way to Maibe and the robots. Byte quickly jumps in front of the cat and robot dog to protect them from the flame as it full on hits Maibe.

Maibe falls to the ground, losing the yellow glow around him. His face shows happiness and suspense, "THAT'S IT BOY!" Maibe gets back to his feet, "Now... RELEASE IT!"

"PIZZA POOOOOOWEEEEEEER!" Andy suddenly shoots up into the air, going up to about twenty feet in distance. When he reaches the peak of his jump, he loses his glow and begins falling straight down, "Catch me, catch me, catchmecatchmeCATCHMECATCHMECATCHME! AAAAH!"

"BOY!" Maibe quickly runs underneath Andy, who then lands on top of him, slamming both on to the park's ground.

"... Ok, I just saw a flying deadbeat college kid, is someone going to explain what just happened?" Byte asks, getting up from the ground. Montu and Barq are perfectly fine, while the back of Byte is slightly burnt.

"Did you... release your energy?" Maibe asks, underneath Andy.

"Y-Yeah."

"... Did you release it into your legs instead of your arms?"

Andy realizes now what he did, "Dang it."

Maibe gives out a hearty laugh as the two stand up. "Hey, boy, that was still pretty good. At least you know how to focus your energy."

"Thanks, man!" Andy says, "But, how did you start glowing during concert without screaming at the top of your lungs for a couple of minutes."

"When you're fighting, your bones rub against each other faster, building up a lot more energy much quicker. We were just standing still." Maibe explains, having a big grin on his face for some reason.

After that, the two of them sit on a nearby black bench, Montu near Maibe's feet, and Barq and Byte, who has his arms crossed trying to look cool, standing to the side. They all stare at the far city lights, the buildings with small glowing squares scattered all over them, making giant patterns of yellow. The moon shines on the group with a crescent smile.

"An old wise man taught me how to do it back in Al Minya." Maibe explains.

"No kidding. Did everyone back then know how to do it, or?" Andy asks, sober from his 'pizza drunkness' by now.

"Uhm," Maibe thinks, unsure of how to answer the question, "... A few did. You didn't really know if someone had the ability or not until they pulled it out during the last few moments of a fight. You know, keeping it as a surprise reveal for the crowd. That's what I did, at least."

"So, you were a showman? That's chill." Andy smirks.

"Entertainment was my hobby, yes," Maibe bends down and pets Montu, "Hearing the crowds of people cheer for me when I won a match was amazing. It was truly a blessing from the Gods. Let me tell you, Egyptians easily beat anyone I've seen here since I've arrived."

"I can believe it." Andy jokes.

"I mean, your people are not doing that bad, in all honesty, I mean, look at those things," Maibe points towards the buildings, "Those are fantastic. But Egypt... it is my home, where I originate. It's where my family lives... lived."

Andy does not respond back because he does not know how to. Maibe speaks back up, "You remind me a lot of my son."

"Really, how?"

"Well," Maibe smiles, "You and him were both the same age, you both had the same carefreeness, and... you're both still just boys."

Andy rolls his eyes, as Maibe refers to the ball game that he told Andy about back in the interrogation, "Ha ha, very funny."

"... I never got to teach him how to focus his energy." Maibe says.

"Wait, did he have the-"

"Arms? Yes. Maibe II had the gift from the Gods, most likely got it from me." Maibe explains. Andy now sees what has been going on in Maibe's head in the past thirty minutes or so. "I was thinking, earlier, that I could maybe one day walk to Egypt and search for them. My family."

"Why not, man? I'm sure Byte will take you." Andy points to the robot.

"What? No! We are staying put. I can't stand sand between my gears." Byte argues.

Maibe laughs, "Yeah, we will be staying put. I doubt I'll find anything, anyway."

They all sit quietly, staring out into the city. "Yo," Andy starts the conversation back up, "Thanks for teaching me that, though. I respect that."

"I was unsure earlier whether or not I should have taught you it." Maibe says.

"How come? You thought it was going to be a waste of time or somethin'?" Andy looks down at the grass that is growing near the bench.

"No, nothing like that." Maibe smiles, but it fades away rather quickly, "Earlier you asked me if anyone back in my day knew how to do it. Truth is, a lot of other Egyptians with the arms did. But those people did not fight in games like we do now. They were bad people. The type who destroyed villages, separated families, and forced their rule over innocent lives who couldn't fight back. They were killers, and they were using the gift from the Gods for evil purposes."

"Man..." Andy quietly says to himself.

"So, I made it my job to stop them myself," Maibe explains, "If people couldn't stand up for themselves, then I would."

"Hey, that's pretty cool of you." Andy says.

"There was nobody back then to do it, so it was up to me." Maibe explains. Byte lowers his arms and looks at Maibe.

"You were... A police officer." Byte says.

"Based off what I see you do, then yes. I guess I was." Maibe drops the bombshell hard on Byte. Maibe turns back to Andy, "Listen, boy. I need you to continue my mission. If you see anyone using the gift from the Gods to harm innocent people, then I need you to stop them. Times change, people don't."

Something pops into Andy's head and, like how Andy always does, he says it out loud, "Say, isn't that kind of like what you did? Back at the concert?"

Maibe looks down, where he sees Montu is sleeping, "... Yes."

Maibe does not look back up. Andy tries to fix the situation. He is never good with finding the right thing to say, "Sorry, that probably wasn't the best thing-"

"No, you're right," Maibe stops Andy, "I did do exactly what those heathens did back in Egypt. I beat myself up for it everyday. I just didn't want to say anything because... Ya' know..."

"I get it, man." Andy responds.

"... Well," Maibe continues his 'back-in-the-day' stories, like the ones he always tells, "After stopping those people over and over, I thought to myself, 'Hey!' that's me talking to myself, 'Why don't I become the pharaoh?' If I actually had power instead of being a travelling entertainer, then I could solve the arm-crimes much faster and save a lot more Egyptian lives. So, I made it my life's purpose."

"And that's what you did?" Andy asks.

"Well, I think, at least." Maibe answers, "I mean, I went to Cairo and yelled, "I AM NOW THE PHARAOH' and just acted like I was pharaoh from then on. Thinking back now, I do not believe that is how it would have worked."

"Definitely not." Byte says.

"But, if Adafulu was not going to do anything, than I had to try." Maibe explains his reasoning. The people of Cairo at the time had no idea who Maibe was and did not know what he had done, all the people he had saved, so they brushed him off as some kind of loon with special arms, "And if anyone actually considered me pharaoh, then that didn't last long because..."

Maibe's voice trails off. Andy doesn't know what he was about to say, but Byte does. The mummy speaks back up, "You know, it's funny, I made that my life's purpose- to become pharaoh- and, let's be honest, I completely failed. But now I'm back. I have a second chance. And I have no idea what my purpose is now."

"... It could be to find your family?" Andy picks up from the statement earlier.

"Possibly, yes..." Maibe looks at Andy, "You have a purpose, boy?"

Andy puts his back against the bench and thinks for a moment, "Man, I have no idea. I'm in college with no idea where I'm going with it, I suck at sticking to a job, and I have no girl or anything. I'm just cruisin' with the waves and seeing where I land, I guess."

Maibe grins, "That is not the smartest thing to do."

"Hey, it led me to have a philosophical chat with a mummy, I think it's working out for me." Andy jokes. Maibe laughs out loud.

"I guess so. And don't worry about the women. As far as I know, the Gods will have you with her eventually if you are meant to be together. And when you're in that moment, you'll know she is the one." Maibe explains.

"Geez, you sound like a Dad." Andy tells him.

"I wonder why!" Maibe tries his best with the jokes, "I was in the same position as you are now, not feeling special, not with a purpose. Except I was face first in the middle of the desert, but hey, still counts. But, I kept on reminding myself about something that always cheered me up. You want to know what it was?"

"What?" Andy asks.

"There are many different people in the world, people who look different, sound different, act different, you understand. But there is only one of me. Only one. If you looked, you would not find another me. And, because of that, I am special. Because the only me is me. Only one King Maibe. Only one boy! And that means the Gods have a purpose for me and for me only."

Andy gives off a smile, "Wow. I never thought of it that way."

"So, next time you feel you have no purpose, just think that and you will pick yourself right out of that desert and BACK to your camel!" Maibe cheers.

"Up top to only having one Maibe and one Andy!" Andy holds his hand out for Maibe, who high-fives it. Andy taught him how to high-five a while back. Andy turns to Byte, who has been looking off in the distance for a long time, "Hey, Byte. What's your life purpose?"

"... What?" Byte asks, facing the two.

"Yeah, annoying one! What do you want to do with yourself?" Maibe tries to get Byte to talk.

"I don't have to respond to either of you." Byte turns back around.

"Oh, come on, you party-pooper," Andy says, "We're all in too deep for you to not share your robot feelings."

"I'm not doing that." Byte says, one last time.

"Come ooooon." Andy pressures innocently.

"No."

"Byte!"

"No!"

"Tell us!"

"I'm not telling you anything!" Byte get's a bit louder.

"Come on, man, share your feelings! LET IT OUT!" Andy yells.

"NO, I WILL NOT!" Byte yells back.

"WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE-"

"I DON'T HAVE ONE!" Byte yells, startling Maibe and Andy. Strange noises begin to come out of Byte's microphone. He brings his hand up to his face and adjusts it, "... I don't have one."

Andy does not know what to do, "... Byte-"

"While you and Grimace over there are celebrating, saying 'Oh, there's only one of us, so we're special!' Well, guess what?" Byte angrily says, "There's plenty of me running around the entire nation! I have no purpose; I'm just a prototype! I'm just the test dummy for some executive in another country who's going to eventually make a better version of me in the future. A better Police Android Unit!"

"Byte-"

"And when that time comes, I'll get thrown away like all the other electronics do. You know that phone you got in your pocket? Yeah, their making a superior version of it next year, and when that happens, you'll just throw that one away and buy a new one." Byte explains, not catching a breath because he does not need to, "That will be me! I will be inferior! My dog will be inferior! Do you really think that I would look for a purpose for my existence when my future is already being programmed off in Tokyo or wherever the heck it is now?!"

Byte calms down for a second, stopping his rush of words, "Don't you get it?" Byte says softly, "I'm replaceable."

Andy and Maibe look at the robot, shocked. Barq goes up to Byte slowly, pouting. Byte sees this and reaches out to him. He pets Barq on the forehead. "Byte," Andy tries to figure out what to say, "... You're not replaceable."

"Tell that to my production number on the bottom of my shoe." Byte argues.

"You're not replaceable," Andy repeats, "Hey... Thanks for sharing, my man. It really means a lot."

"Yes," Maibe says, "We all now have a bond with each other that can never be broken."

"We're all true bros now!" Andy looks at Maibe and Byte.

Byte thinks, "... You two better not tell anyone what I said."

"Oh, definitely not!" Maibe immediately says.

"Yeah, yeah, everything we said tonight, 'PHEWP', into the vault!" Andy adds.

"Barq!" Barq agrees.

"Meow." Montu wakes up.

"Good." Byte says.

So, with that, the group leaves Fils-Aime Park and heads back onto the street, walking down the sidewalk. The moon's light illuminates for the buildings of Iwata as the traffic lights and car headlights all continue their glow. Streetlamps light up the roads with a rich dark orange, shining on five very unique characters that have now all grown closer to one another.

As if out of nowhere, the famous golden limo rolls up beside the gang, and the driver seat's window is rolled down to reveal Debbie, once again driving. "You guys want a ride to your new apartment?" She repeats.

"Oh yeah, right, new apartments. I completely forgot about that." Andy says.

Debbie tilts her head, "Well, where were you walking towards just now?"

"... No idea." Andy laughs, along with Maibe. Byte is riding on top of Barq, waving at Debbie.

The golden robot maid unlocks the backdoor and Andy steps in to see Kaitlyn with her bodyguards. "Yo! There you guys are!" Kaitlyn says, her face lighting up.

"S'up Kate." Andy finds a quick seat, facing towards Kaitlyn.

Maibe gets inside next, but quickly jumps back and screams, "GOOD HORUS, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!"

Andy looks at what Maibe sees and immediately gets out of his seat and backs away, "Hello fighters!" The small commentator greets, "I am your Official ARMS Grand Prix Commentator, Biff!"

Both Andy and Maibe look at Kaitlyn for answers, "... He's cool." She says.

The two, now cautiously, sits down- along with Montu- and Maibe looks for Byte, "Hey, you! Are you coming or what?"

Byte is still outside on top of Barq, "No, I am not coming!" Byte then rolls up to Debbie. He begins to act like he is super cool, "Listen here, doll, I need to head back down to the police station real quick- got some important things to attend to- so I hope you don't mind watching those two fellas in the back for me, would ya'? Especially the big one."

"Will do, Officer." Debbie replies.

Suddenly, Byte feels are strange sensation and then a clicking noise comes out of his microphone, "... What just happened?"

"Oh," Debbie starts, "I took your programmed objectives and placed them for myself. I will make sure to keep an eye on those two, especially Mr. Maibe, for you."

Byte is very surprised, "Wait? You mean... I don't have to watch over those two anymore? I'm free?!"

"Yes, it appears so." Debbie says.

A rush of happiness flows through the officer robot as he begins hopping around, "I'm free! I don't have to watch Maibe anymore! High-five Barq!" Byte lowers his hand towards Barq. The dog headbutts it. "YEAH!"

"Congratulations." Debbie notes.

"I can go do whatever I want! I can knock over this trash can!" Byte kicks over a trash can onto the sidewalk. He picks it back up, "I won't, because I am the law, but still, WOOPEE!"

Byte then runs back towards the limo to Debbie, "Say, you open Saturday?"

"Hey!" Max Brass appears in the passenger seat.

"Oh, uh, hi! Didn't see you there! Well, I must be on my way!" Byte jumps back on top of Barq, "See you guys later! WOOHOO!" With that, Byte rides Barq down the sidewalk and disappears into the city.

"You look tired." Andy says, talking about Kaitlyn.

"I. Am. Exhausted." Kaitlyn slams her back into the leather booth of the limo in frustration. She was at the Brass Tower for such a long time doing retakes and other promotional material than when she looked out the window, it was dark outside.

"Exhausted?" Maibe asks, "Doing what?"

"Oh, you'll see." Kaitlyn smiles at the mummy. "Say, who won the pizza-eating contest?"

"Me." Andy and Maibe both say in unison. They both give a stern look at each other afterwards, which essentially saying to each other, _What did you say, punk?_ This causes Kaitlyn to laugh.

"Well," Kaitlyn finishes her giggling, "Let me tell you about these apartments."

* * *

The door to the girl's room at the Spring Hotel flings open, revealing Kaitlyn. "Heeeeey!"

The scene in the room is what to be expected; Julia and Minako are both playing on one bed and Chevette is laying down, propping herself with a pillow, reading a magazine. Everyone is in their pajamas, making a noticeable contrast between them and the fully get-upped Ribbon Girl.

"Hey Kate!" Minako says.

"S'UP!" Julia yells.

"Welcome back." Chevette lowers her magazine, "How was it?"

Kaitlyn groans loudly, "I am soooo worn out! UGH!" the pop singer flops herself down onto her bed, face first. She closes her eyes for a moment, but then opens them to see a metal dinosaur beside her head. "What's this?"

"A stegosaurus going 'rawr'." Minako tells her.

"Cute!" Kaitlyn picks it up while remaining in her laying down position.

"So, where did you go, exactly?" Julia asks.

Kaitlyn sits up, pushing her hair out of her face, "Oh, it was-"

"Miss Laymor," Debbie enters the room, "We would like to see you now."

Kaitlyn looks at the maid made of brass, and then back at Julia, "Looks like you're about to find out, Lil' J."

"Oh boy..." Julia rolls her eyes, as she as about to go to bed. "Will this take as long as whatever Kaitlyn did?"

"Hopefully not," Debbie announces, "Please follow me."

With that, Julia exits the room and Kaitlyn looks over at Minako's bed. There are so many metal dinosaurs. "Uh, Min Min... Why?"

"Because," Minako picks up a good ol' Brachio, "They sell."

* * *

About thirty minutes in and Andy and Maibe are both already settled into the hotel and are enjoying it. Andy bunked with Naoto and Damien in the blue room, along with Armando and Ricardo, while Maibe is in the white room, which hosts Helix and the two scientists, Gregory and Hamilton.

In Andy's room, Damien is trying to come up with nicknames for everybody, "Ok, ok." Kid Cobra says, "I am 'Snake Brotha'', you are 'Sneaky Brotha'', you two are 'Suit Brotha' One' and 'Suit Brotha' Two', and you are... 'Springy Brotha'."

"I am down with 'Springy Brother'-"

"'Springy BROTHA'!" Damien corrects.

"Ok, ok, 'Springy BROTHA'!" Andy fixes.

"I am not going to refer to you four by nicknames," Naoto ruins the fun, "And no one is allowed to call me 'Sneaky Brotha'."

"What was that, 'Sneaky Brotha'?" Damien asks.

"Yeah, I didn't hear you, 'Sneaky Brotha'." Andy plays along. Naoto shakes his head and lays down, trying to go to sleep.

Damien comes up with a brilliant thought, "You know what we should do? We should form a pack! An alliance! And call ourselves ''Da Brothas'. It would be perfect!"

"From how that strange yellow dude explained it to me on the way here," Andy is talking about Biff, who spent the entire limo trip retelling him and the mummy how the Grand Prix will work, "I don't think an alliance would work in that style."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Damien says.

"Look, we are not forming an alliance-" As Naoto talks, a faint knock is heard on the door from the outside.

"NOSE GOES!" Andy quickly puts his finger on his nose. Naoto does the same, doing it by instinct, followed by both the bodyguards. Damien could not because he has a mask on.

"It is you, 'Snake Brotha'." Armando says.

"Dang!" Damien gets out from his bed and walks over to the door and opens it, "WASSAH'- oh?"

The sight is very strange. It is Julia carrying Mechanica on her back with Kaitlyn and Minako standing beside her. Kaitlyn holds Julia's shoulder with her hand, all three sharing the same sad expression- especially the small teen.

"Can I see Naoto really quick?" Julia says softly.

Damien turns back to the group, "'Sneaky Brotha', it's for you."

Naoto sits up and looks out the door with an annoyed expression, which immediately changes when he sees Julia. The ninja quickly gets out of bed and walks to the door as Damien goes back into the room. "Hey, what is going on?"

"Thank you, girls." Julia looks at both Kaitlyn and Minako, nodding her head. Kaitlyn pats Julia's shoulder and the two head back into the girl's room.

Naoto closes the door behind him, leaving only himself, Julia, and Mechanica in the hallway, "What is this all about?"

"I'm here," Julia pulls out an object that was behind her back in-between her and Mechanica, "To return your samurai book to you."

Naoto hesitantly takes the blue samurai book back that he gave Julia on the train coming to Iwata, "Julia-"

"It was a good read, I really enjoyed it. The part about-"

"Julia-"

"I wasn't finished, Naoto-"

"Julia, you are calling me 'Naoto' and not 'big bro'. What is going on?" Naoto asks.

"... They're kickin' me out." Tears begin to swell up in Julia's eyes as she tries to get out the news.

Naoto is in shock, "What? Why?"

"They- they said that I-I wasn't special, and... and..." Julia can barely talk through her sobbing as Naoto crouches down to hug her.

"How dare they say that! You are special, Julia-"

"No I'm not! I'm just some dumpster kid who... who..."

"Stop, Julia." Naoto continues his hugging.

Julia breaks the hug and moves back, "I need you to win for me. I know that y-you can Naoto."

"You are not leaving. Take that thing off." Naoto goes behind Julia and tries to get Mechanica off her.

"No, I have to go!"

"You are not!" Naoto struggles to get the robot off of Julia, as it is strapped to her front.

"Naoto, they're right! I don't have the arms, I-I don't belong here-"

"Yes, you do!" Naoto stops and catches his breath, "Out of everyone here, Julia, no one deserves to be here as much as you do."

"But-"

"I was not finished," Naoto sternly says, "Every single one of these people got in unfairly easy. They all either received the arms at a young age, or were born with them, including me! You, though, you fought everything to get here. This has been your dream, and no one is going to say that you do not deserve it as long as I am here."

Julia tries her best to stop crying as tears run down her face. Naoto wipes one of the tears off. He then stands back up to his feet, "I will go talk to him."

"What?"

"I am going right now!" Naoto marches down the hallway and heads down the hotel in search of the champion.

* * *

In the Spring Hotel's hot tub is two people, one being a retired ARMS fighter, and the other a small yellow commentator with a bowtie.

"So, ya' see, Biff," Max continues his plan, "I have everything figured out, all I gotta do now is tell the news that she had to leave because of unforeseen circumstances. I'll be in the clear!"

"My, my, sounds like everything is looking up for you, Commissioner!" Biff plays with the water in front of him.

"It sure is. Tomorrow is gonna be a good-"

"BRASS!" A voice echoes through the indoor pool room as Naoto swings the door open, startling both Max and Biff.

"... Boy, would you look at the time," Biff looks at his wrist that does not have a watch on it, "I'm late for my... sponge... soaking." He quickly hops out of the tub and runs off.

Max gets out of the tub, "Howdy, 'Ninjara'. What's going on with-"

"You can not eliminate Julia from the competition!" Naoto steps his foot down.

The champ was not ready for that statement, "... And why not?"

"Because, she deserves to be here more than anyone else and you know that. She built a giant body to use in battle-"

"That's the thing, chief." Max grabs a near champagne bottle, "You drink?"

"Get to the point."

Max opens up the bottle and begins drinking, "Ya' see, there is a level of integrity for the Grand Prix that was set during my time." He explains, "It was made for talented people, like you and me, Ninjara. Basically, if you didn't have the arms, you didn't get to play with us. I mean, What's the point of centering an entire sport around the gifted when any normal fella' from down the street can join in whenever he wants?"

"But in your announcement, you said anyone could join."

"Oh, you know what I meant!" Max says, "'anyone who actually has the arms and nobody else' doesn't sound as nice, does it? When you include everyone in the discussion, they feel important, and they tune in, and they watch. That don't mean they're actually suppose to participate!"

"Then why did you not say that back at the sign-ups?" Naoto asks.

Max tries to find himself a way out of this, "Uh, uh... I was in the moment! You go from two competitors to ten and it's like 'OOOOoooh 'dis is gonna be good!' But I've humbly learned it's not about quantity, it's about quality, and I apologize for that, and I hope we can move on." Max takes another drink of the champagne.

"You were her idol," Naoto argues, "She looked up to you so much, and you go and tell her that she does not deserve to be here."

"Oh, I didn't tell her, the robot did." Max tells him.

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah, I don't deal with little girls cryin' and whinin', so I just told Debbie the message and sent her instead." Max explains.

"You mean, you broke this little girl's heart and did not even do it to her face?"

Max thinks, "Mmmyeah, sounds about right."

Naoto has had it with Max at this point, "Fine, then I will be leaving tonight also. Goodnight."

"D'wuah?" Max yells, spitting out his drink. Naoto heads for the door. As he is about to open it, Max gets in his way. "Now, hold on a sec'. Let's think about this rationally."

"Move out of my way."

"'Ninjara', you're-"

"My name is Naoto Uchiyama. Now, move." Naoto warns one last time.

Naoto moves Max out of the way and exits the pool room. "Wait, Naoto!" Max says urgently. Naoto stops walking and listens, "You are the most highly anticipated fighter on my roster! You got first place at auditions, you have the best track record, and you're already handpicked to be a favorite. You can't quit on me now! You have the best chance of getting that 500-"

"I do not care about your money!" Naoto turns around, "Either she stays, or we both go."

Max's expression changes to one of anger, "You're really screwing me over here, you know."

"That is my intent, yes."

Max turns around and goes into deep thought quickly. Max turns back around, "Fine, but you're gonna regret doin' this, son."

"I hope so."

Max slams the door as Naoto smiles.

* * *

"It was really great meeting you both." Julia says somberly, speaking to Kaitlyn and Minako in the lobby of the Spring Hotel near the exit. Mechanica is strapped to her back, ready for another train ride, this time back home.

"I'm really sorry this happened, Julia." Kaitlyn sympathizes.

"Thanks," Julia replies, "Make sure to keep Naoto in check for me, he's a crazy one."

With that, Julia turns around and starts walking toward the exit. She is suddenly stopped, though, by a great puff of smoke, causing her to jump back in fear, "AH! SATAN BEGONE- huh?" It was Naoto, "... You know, you could've just, like, walked over here."

"Go back to your room." Naoto tells her.

"What? Why?" Julia asks.

"Because," Naoto smirks, "You are not going anywhere anytime soon."

It takes Julia a second to realize what that means, "Wait, Naoto... No way. NO WAY! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"I had a quick chat with Brass. Changed his mind pretty quick when I was done with him." Naoto tells the three.

"NAOTO!" Julia drops Mechanica from off her back, which just lands on their legs, and tackles the ninja to give him the biggest of hugs, "ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!"

Naoto can barely breath, "It was nothing Julia, now, please- AH!"

"Oh, sorry big bro!" Julia has Naoto in the air thanks to her out-of-nowhere brute strength. She places him back down onto the floor.

"Congratulations, Lil' J, that's awesome!" Kaitlyn cheers.

"Wait, is Max Brass dead?" Minako asks.

"Come on, it is late, let us go to bed." Naoto starts walking the girls back to their doors when a sudden banging comes from the lobby's front doors, "What?"

The four turn around to see Barq, trying to get the crew's attention. The robot is heavily damaged, with dents across his forehead and a part of his armor missing, revealing the wires inside of him.

"Barq? What's he doing here?" Kaitlyn asks.

Suddenly, Officer Radcliffe, along with three other cop cars, all of their sirens blaring, enter the hotel's parking lot and run out of their seats and towards the door. Naoto quickly runs and unlocks the door, causing Radcliffe to barge in, along with Barq.

"Where's Brass?!" Officer Radcliffe demands. Her voice is frantic and loud.

"He is in the pool." Naoto tells her, pointing off into the distance.

"Barq, go get him!" Radcliffe motions Barq in that direction, who speeds down the hallway. She then points at Naoto, "You, find Maibe, NOW!"

"On it." Naoto, without question, disappears into a puff of smoke, just like how he arrived.

Radcliffe begins jogging down through the hotel as more police officers run in. Kaitlyn, Minako, and Julia all catch up with her.

Kaitlyn goes up beside her and asks, "Officer, what's going on-"

"Girls, I need you to go back to your rooms." Radcliffe orders.

"Can you at least tell us what's happening?" Kaitlyn tries again, this time more desperate.

Radcliffe stops her jogging and turns to the three, "Right now, Someone is hacking into Byte's database and is stealing all of the criminal records and scans he has ever made. You can only do that if you have Byte's hard drive, and the only way to get that hard drive is by dismantling the android unit itself."

"What does that mean?" Minako asks.

"Girls," Radcliffe says as clear as possible, "Byte's been kidnapped. I need you to return to your rooms, now."

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed this, please leave a review and tell me what you thought, along with a favorite and a follow. I will see you all at Chapter 8 of "ARMS: The Rad Return of the Grand Prix!" That is all you are going to get out of me after that ending. -Ed.**


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